The Marauders Year 1
by Fallen Crest
Summary: It's the Marauders first year at Hogwarts. This is how they met and became the Marauders. How their first year went with Peter, James, and Sirius beginning to get suspicious of Remus excuses every month.
1. Chapter 1: The Beginning

**A/N: I know this has been done before but I want to try it out for myself. It looks really fun to write.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.  
**

**The Marauders Year 1**

**Chapter 1: The Beginning**

Outside on a bench, a young boy that looked about eleven stared up at the night sky, more precisely, the moon in late July. It was the night before the full moon.

There were quite a few things that made this boy different from most people.

For one, he was a wizard. Not a pure-blood since his mother, Lena Lupin, was a muggle. He was a half-blood. His father was a wizard.

The young boy was pale and moved a hand to his right arm where there was a big scar. His body was covered in scars, but this specific scar was what caused the boy's life to turn into hell one night every month for the past six years. This scar was what made the boy really different from most people.

Six years ago the boy's father, Auva Lupin, had a disagreement with a werewolf, Fenrir Greyback. Auva was working hard to get Fenrir sent to Azkaban because of Fenrir going around and biting kids when their parents offended him. In response to Auva trying to get him sent to Azkaban, Fenrir bit Auva's son, Remus.

After he was bit, Remus felt his life turn into hell. Every full moon he had to go through the painful transformation into a werewolf. His parents locked him in their basement and chain him to floor so he wouldn't go out and bite someone. Without anyone to attack, the wolf would bite and scratch himself so every morning after the full moon Remus was covered in wounds and weak.

During the day of the full moon and a few days before the full moon, Remus would feel irritable, angry, ill, and very weak. Normally, he was a nice, polite, and mild-manner boy but when the full moon was near he could be very scary. He was easily riled up when the full moon was near.

Remus was isolated from everyone but his parents. His parents would send him to school because it is dangerous. Even if it was a muggle school, someone could find out that he was a werewolf. Plus, Remus would have to be pulled out of school for a few days at a time each month when a full moon was near. He would be getting in trouble for missing so much school.

Remus knew. He would never be able to go to school. He couldn't go to a muggle school or a wizard school. Being a werewolf made it impossible for him to go to any school. He may be a wizard, but werewolves were shunned. If parents found out he was a werewolf and he was attending a school they would make sure he was expelled. It was too dangerous for a werewolf to go to school.

A gentle hand landed on Remus's shoulder making the boy jump surprise. He turned to see his mother's gentle facing, smiling sadly. Her light amber hair fell over her shoulders as she bent over to look at her son. Her eyes, a bright crystal blue, shine with pain and sadness. "Come on. Go to bed. You'll need all your energy for tomorrow night."

The young werewolf cub nodded his head and followed his mom inside.

Even though he was a werewolf, Lena's love for her son never lowered. She spent all her time at home taking care of him and helping him through the pain of the transformation. After the transformation, she would make sure he rested and healed from the wounds he gave himself. Werewolf wounds couldn't be healed completely with magic, but Auva healed them the best magic could. Lena would wrap his wounds up after Auva healed them somewhat.

Auva watched his son a few days after the full moon. His son was sitting in the living room staring out the window. He knew his son was lonely. He didn't have any friends. Auva knew it was dangerous for Remus to make friends, but he tried to get his son to make some friends by taking him to a park to meet kids. Remus disagreed and isolated himself from all the kids. He was scared to make contact with them.

Before he was bitten, Remus was confident and loved talking and hanging with kids. Now, Remus stayed away from kids. His excuse was why make friends when they are just going to leave when they find out he is a werewolf. All these kids were wizards/witches and would someday get to go to a wizard school. He didn't want to be near them when he was going to be left alone while they all got to go train to be wizards.

"Remus…" Auva started.

"Forget it, Dad." Remus interrupted. "I want to be left alone."

Auva watched his son sadly. He knew his son really wanted to go to a magic school. It would make him feel somewhat normal. All the schools rejected him as soon as they learned he was a werewolf.

"Son…."

"I'm use to being shunned. I don't care about going to school anymore, Dad. Just forget it. I know I'm never going to school." Remus said sadly. His eyes shined with pain as he looked outside. In the distance he saw an owl coming towards their house. "You have an owl coming."

Auva sighed and went to retrieve the letter from the owl. He looked at the envelope from the owl in disbelief. It had the Hogwarts stamp on it and was addressed to his son.

Lena looked up from making lunch to see her husband standing frozen in the kitchen. "Is something the matter, dear?"

"REMUS!" Auva yelled, ignoring his wife.

The young preteen walked slowly into the kitchen. "What?"

Auva smiled and handed the letter to Remus, who just stared at it.

"Are you going to open it?" Lena asked her son.

Remus frowned and put the letter on the table. "Why? Just so I can face more disappointment? I've faced enough disappointment in life. I don't need anymore." The boy grabbed the letter off the table and ripped it into pieces before throwing it in the fireplace.

Lena and Auva watched their son sadly. They both knew that he could never go to school. They really hoped that he would be able to go to a wizard school some day, but knew it wasn't a possibility.

Remus came back into the kitchen and sat at the table. "Lunch?"

"WHY DO THESE LETTERS KEEP COMING HERE?" Remus yelled angrily a few days later as he tore another Hogwarts letter up and threw it in a fire place. He clenched his fists angrily as he sat outside. Continuously getting these letters was tearing his heart up. He really wanted to go to Hogwarts, but knew he couldn't. These letters were making it hard to cope with the fact that he can't go.

"You know, Remus, you might try to read one of the letters." Auva said. "If you did, then you would know that you have to send a reply saying you can't go and the letter will stop coming."

Remus screamed in frustration. "Why didn't you tell me that sooner?"

Auva shrugged his shoulders. "I thought they just sent the letter to say you can't come to Hogwarts and that they wouldn't bother to keep sending them till they got a reply."

"I see no reason why he can't attend Hogwarts." A kind voice said.

Remus and Auva both looked towards the voice to see a man with tinkling blue eyes and a long white beard and mustache dressed in traveling robes. "Who are you?" Remus asked, while his father smiled.

"Professor Dumbledore, what are you doing here?" Auva asked surprised.

Remus looked between his father and Dumbledore confused. "Huh?"

"Remus, I am Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Dumbledore introduced himself. "I've come here to ask you to attend Hogwarts. You seem to be annoying our letters. I can't understand why. You know all about magic from you father."

The young boy frowned and looked away. "Oh."

Auva smiled sadly at his son. "Remus can't attend Hogwarts, sir. We thought you knew that."

Dumbledore smiled kindly. "I know all about young Mr. Lupin's lycanthropy. I see no reason why that should stop him from attending Hogwarts."

"SEE NO REASON?" Remus screamed jumping to his feet. "WHAT? ARE YOU BLIND? I'M A WEREWOLF! IT'S TOO DANGEROUS! I COULD BITE SOMEONE! SOMEONE COULD FIND OUT I'M A WEREWOLF! YOU COULD GET IN TROUBLE FOR ALLOWING SOMEONE LIKE ME ATTEND HOGWARTS! YOU COULD GET FIRED! ATTENDING HOGWARTS ISN'T WORTH THE RISK! I DON'T NEED ANYMORE PAIN! I'VE BEEN ISOLATED FROM EVERYONE FOR YEARS! I…."

Dumbledore and Auva watched quietly as Remus ranted. The professor pulled his wand out after a few minutes and pointed it out Remus. "Silencio."

Remus stopped his pacing and grabbed his throat. No sound was coming out of his mouth. He looked at Dumbledore surprised.

"Mr. Lupin, you are a bright young boy. You've had it difficult since you were bitten. Just because you have an illness…." Remus glared at Dumbledore calling his lycanthropy an illness. "doesn't mean you don't deserve a chance to attend Hogwarts. I'm sure with certain precautions, everything will be fine. You will be treated like a normal kid at Hogwarts. The professors will know of your illness and will excuse you from class the day after the full moon." Dumbledore said calmly.

"Will it be safe?" Auva asked concerned.

Dumbledore nodded his head. "With the precautions I am setting up Mr. Lupin will be safe. The kids will be safe as well. No one will get hurt."

Auva stared at the sky for a few minutes. "If you can promise it will be safe for everyone then I see no reason why he can't attend Hogwarts. He's always wanted to go."

The Headmaster smiled and pulled an envelope out of his pocket. He handed it to Auva. "By September first, I will have a system set up for Mr. Lupin on the days of the full moon."

"Thank you, Professor." Auva said.

Remus crossed his arms and stomped his feet on the ground to get the two adults' attention.

"Of course. Sorry about that Mr. Lupin." Dumbledore smiled and released Remus from the silencing charm.

"It's too dangerous." Remus said immediately. "Don't get me wrong. I really want to go to Hogwarts, sir. I just think it's too dangerous. What if I bite someone? I don't want to put anyone else through the hell I have to go through every month."

"Remus, just try." Auva said gently. "Go to Hogwarts this year. And if you don't like it, I won't make you go anymore. Just attempt Hogwarts for one year."

Remus wrung his fingers together and looked at his feet. "Okay Dad. I'll try one year."

"Excellent." Dumbledore said happily. "Then I will see you on September first, Mr. Lupin."

When Dumbledore left, Remus looked at his dad and smiled.

Auva looked at his son confused. "Why are you smiling? You were just acting like you didn't want to go."

"I really do want to go, Dad. I'm just not sure if it is safe. Do you trust Professor Dumbledore with this?" Remus asked.

"Yes son. He is a great wizard. He'll make sure everyone is safe. Nobody is going to find out. Remember, you can't tell anyone you are a werewolf." Auva said.

"I know Dad. Let's go tell Mom." Remus said.

Auva grabbed his son's arm before he could run inside. "Son, will you at least try to make friends? I know you don't make friends on purpose. But you'll be at Hogwarts for seven years. It will be lonely if you just ignore everyone. Promise me you will at least attempt to make friends."

Remus bit his lip and looked at the ground. "I promise." He whispered.

**A/N: I looked it up and as far as I can tell there were no Blacks Hogwarts when Sirius started because they were all much older than him. So unless Sirius is at home and his cousin come to visit, his cousin won't be in the story.**


	2. Chapter 2: Friends

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

**The Marauders Year 1**

**Chapter 2: Friends**

Lena hugged her son tightly. "Be good, Remus. Be nice to the other kids. Don't cause any trouble or get into any fights. Listen to your teachers. Try and make some friends. And write to me."

"I know Mom." Remus replied as he hugged his mom back. His mom let him go and he ran through the barrier with his father.

"Have a good term, son. We'll see you at Christmas." Auva told his son.

"Thanks Dad." Remus replied as he climbed onto the train. He sat down in an empty carriage and stared out the window.

Remus watched another boy with messy black hair and hazel eyes, wearing round glasses that looked around his age. His mother hugged him tightly and wiped her eyes free of the tears that were filling in them. The boy smiled before his father dragged him away from his mother to speak to him out of his mother's ears reach. The father winked at his son and gave him a package before ruffling his son's hair.

Remus turned to see another boy with long black hair and grey eyes arguing with his mother. He yelled at her before grabbing his trunk and climbing onto the train.

A mousy boy with brown hair and watery blue eyes caught Remus's attention next. He was jumping up and down excitedly.

A whistle sounded and the mousy boy stopped jumping up and down. He ran onto the train along with the others who hadn't gotten on yet.

Remus sighed and leaned back in his seat. He closed his eyes and was starting to fall asleep when he the door to his compartment was opened.

"Do you mind if I seat here?" A boy's voice asked.

Remus opened his eyes to see the boy with the glasses. "It's a free world."

"Thanks." The boy replied. He sat down across from Remus and smiled. "By the way, I'm Jam….."

The compartment door opened again and this time the boy with long black hair came in. "Can I seat here?" Without waiting for a reply, he sat down next to Remus. "Thanks."

Remus rolled his eyes and looked back out the window to watch the scenery going by.

"As I was saying, I'm James Potter. Who are you guys?" James asked.

"Sirius Black." The new boy said and he turned to Remus. Before anyone could say anything, the door opened again and two people came inside. One was a boy with greasy black hair. The other was a girl with long red hair and bright green eyes.

"You better be in Slytherin." The greasy haired boy said.

"Slytherin?" James question in disbelief. "Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" He looked at Remus and Sirius when he said this.

Sirius slouched in his seat and frowned. "My whole family has been in Slytherin."

"Blimey and I thought you were alright." James replied.

Sirius grinned at James. "Maybe I'll break the tradition. Where are you heading, if you got the choice?"

James lifted an invisible sword. "Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart! Like my dad."

The greasy haired boy made a small, disparaging noise. James turned to glare at him. "Got a problem with that?"

"No." The boy replied. "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy-"

"Where're you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?" Sirius asked mockingly.

James roared with laughter, while the girl glared at the two of them. Remus rolled his eyes and continued to ignore the four in the compartment.

The girl grabbed the boy's arm. "Come on, Severus, let's find another compartment."

"Ooooo…." James and Sirius mocked.

"See ya, Snivellus!" James called after the two.

Sirius leaned back in his seat. "I don't like him."

James nodded his head and turned back to Remus. "So, what's your name?"

Remus shrugged his shoulders and continued to stare out the window.

"You don't know your name?" James asked, smiling.

Again, Remus shrugged his shoulders.

Sirius and James looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. "Do you like quidditch?"

"Yeah." Sirius replied. "I'm a beater."

"Cool. I'm a chaser. Though I also try to play as a seeker sometimes." James replied. He looked at Remus again. "What about you?"

Remus shrugged his shoulders and continued to look at the window.

Sirius turned to face him. "Do you have a voice?"

Remus shrugged his shoulders again, making Sirius scream in frustration and James to laugh. "He has a voice. He spoke once earlier before you came in."

"D-do you m-mind if I seat h-here?" A boy asked.

"Go ahead." James replied. "I'm James Potter. This is Sirius Black."

The boy sat next to James. "P-peter P-pettigrew."

"Nice to meet you." James replied.

Peter looked over at Remus. "Who are you?"

Remus shrugged. He didn't want to talk to these boys. He was afraid of becoming friends with them. As soon as they learn he is a werewolf they will shun him, so he found it easier to ignore them now then become friends and get hurt by them shunning him. He wanted friends, but didn't want to face the pain of being shunned if they ever found out the truth.

"Did we do something to offend you?" James asked.

Remus shook his head.

"Then why aren't you talking to us?" Sirius questioned.

Remus shrugged his shoulders, making Sirius scream in frustration again.

Remus turned to look at Sirius and raised a brow. "What's wrong?"

Sirius stopped screaming and looked at Remus. "Look, he speaks!"

James rolled his eyes. "Idiot." He looked at Remus. "So, your name, do you like quidditch, and what house do you want to be in?"

Remus blinked and looked at James confused. "Huh?"

"Answer the questions." Sirius growled.

Remus leaned back in his seat. "Don't feel like it."

"Fine." Sirius replied and turned to Peter. "What about you?"

"I like Quidditch, but I can't play. I'm not good at sports." Peter replied and looked down at his feet shyly. "And as for houses, any house is fine except maybe Slytherin."

"I agree with that. Slytherin house is full of slimy gits, like Snivellus." James replied.

The compartment door opened again and a witch with a trolley smiled at the boys. "Anything off the trolley?"

All the boys, but Remus, jumped up and brought all the sweets they wanted. Peter turned to look at Remus. "Are you going to get anything?"

"No." Remus replied.

The three boys shrugged and sat down with their sweets.

For the rest of the trip, the three boys ate their sweets and talked about some more. They played exploding snap and tried to get Remus to join them in their conversations and game. They succeeded in getting nothing out of Remus. He continued to ignore them for the whole train ride.

"We're here!" James and Sirius sang happily.

"Let's go." Sirius said. "I really hope I get sorted into Gryffindor and not Slytherin."

James smiled. "Don't worry, mate. From what I can tell you are nothing like a Slytherin."

Remus followed the three boys out of the compartment quietly.

"I wonder where we go." Peter said.

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" A male voice.

James grinned. "Guess that answers that question." The four boys looked towards the direction of the voice and saw a big man with lots of black hair and two beady black eyes.

"C'mon, follow me. Anymore firs' years? Follow me!" The man said.

"Who are you?" Sirius asked.

"Rubeus Hagrid, Gamekeeper here at Hogwarts." The man replied. All the first years followed Hagrid along a steep, narrow path. "Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec. Jus' round this bend here!"

All of the first years were awed when they saw Hogwarts.

Hagrid lead the awed first years to the lake where there were a bunch of boats waiting for them. "No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called to them.

James, Sirius, and Peter ran to one of the boats and climbed into it. Sirius looked back at Remus, who was walking away from them, and climbed out of the boat. "Sirius, what are you doing?" James called after him.

Sirius ignored him and ran to catch up with Remus. He grabbed Remus's arm and dragged him to their boat. "What are you doing?" Remus asked confused.

"Four to a boat." Sirius replied. "You can seat with us." Without giving Remus a choice, the two got in the boat.

"Will you tell us your name now?" James asked when he saw the two climb into the boat.

Remus, who was looking over the side of the boat at the water, looked up. "If I do, will you leave me alone?"

James and Sirius looked at each other, then at Remus. "No." They said simultaneously.

"Why?"

"Everyone in?" Hagrid yelled. "Right then- Forward!"

The boats began to move along the river by magic.

"We want to be friends." James replied.

"Why?"

Sirius blinked. "We don't need a reason to be your friend."

Remus hmm and looked back at the water.

"So?" James said.

Remus blinked and looked at James. "So what?"

James threw his hands into the air in exasperation. "Your name? The thing we have been working on finding out all day."

"Why? We probably won't even be in the same house. So there is no point in you knowing it." Remus replied. He looked back at the water and stuck his hand in it. The cool water felt nice in the warm, fall air.

"What if we're all in the same house?" Sirius asked.

"Will you tell us your name and be our friend then?" James continued.

Remus sighed. "You won't leave me alone unless I agree?" James and Sirius nodded their heads vigorously. "Fine. Deal."

James and Sirius jumped to their feet and screamed happily. "We won!"

"What did I just do?" Remus groaned. James and Sirius started jumping happily, causing the boat to shake. "Will you two stop? You're going to make the boat…"

Remus never finished his sentence because the boat tipped over and the four boys fell into the water. "Wonderful." Remus growled.

James and Sirius laughed and Peter chuckled. "That was fun." Sirius said, grinning.

"You guys are idiots." Remus replied.

"You better be careful. We'll be sharing a dorm for the next seven years." James replied, grinning to.

"That's only if we get in the same house." Remus said.

"I bet we'll be in the same house. And don't forget our deal." James said.

Remus groaned and climbed back into the boat. "I think I'd rather be in Slytherin then be in your house and forced to be your friend."

James and Sirius gasped and pulled Remus back in the lake. "You don't mean that. You're not a slimy git."

"How would you know? You don't know anything about me." Remus replied.

"You're talking to us now and you don't even realize it. You've been trying to ignore us and now you're talking. And I can tell that you're not slimy git. So I know you won't be a Slytherin." James replied.

Remus sighed and climbed back into the boat, then held his hand out to help James get into the boat. James and Remus pulled Sirius into the boat, and then they pulled Peter into the boat.

"Alright yer four?" Hagrid called at them.

"Yeah!" James called back and all the boats started moving again.

When they reached the other side of the lake, Hagrid led the first years to castle door and knocked on it three times.

A tall, stern looking witch with long black hair tied in a bun opened the door.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall." Hagrid told her.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take it from here." McGonagall replied.

The first years followed McGonagall into the entrance and until a small chamber to the side of the entrance hall. The professor turned to face preteens.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room." Professor McGonagall started to explain.

James and Sirius turned to Remus and grinned at him. Remus groaned. "It's not likely we'll be in the same house."

"Aw. Don't be like that." Sirius said.

"We're not that bad." James added.

Professor McGonagall glared at the three of them. "You three, quiet." She looked at them closely and sighed. "Why are you four all wet?"

"These two idiots decided to make our boat tip over." Remus replied, gesturing to James and Sirius, who smiled innocently.

McGonagall sighed and pinched her nose.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." Professor McGonagall looked at the four dripping wet boys as she left and frowned.

Sirius and James were bouncing on their feet excitedly. "I can't wait. I wonder how they sort us."

"So, person-whose-name-we-don't-know-yet, you ready to be brothers for the next seven years?" James asked.

Remus glared at James out of the corner of his eye. "I really hope I'm not in your house."

"Aw." Sirius flung his arms around Remus's neck. "Don't be so hurtful."

"You two are annoying." Remus growled and pushed Sirius off of him.

James and Sirius grinned mischievously. "This is going to be a fun year, especially if we're in the same house."

Remus's eye started twitching, so it was a good thing that McGonagall chose that time to come back.

"Form a line and follow me." She said.

McGonagall led the first years into the Great Hall.

There were five long tables in the Great Hall. Four of them were filled with students and the one out of the head of the hall was filled with the teachers. The tables had golden goblets and plates. Looking at the ceiling, James saw thousands of candles floating in the air. Hundreds of faces turned to face them as the first years were led down between two tables.

In front of the teacher table, McGonagall put a stool down and put a hat on the stool.

James watch confused as the hat started to sing. When the hat finished its song, the whole Great Hall exploded into applause.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted." McGonagall said, holding a long roll of parchment. "Adams, John!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Black, Sirius!"

Sirius walked confidently up to the stool and sat down. McGonagall placed the hat on his head and Sirius world went black.

_A Black, eh? I know your family. All Slytherins._

_Don't you dare put me in Slytherin. _Sirius thought.

_Relax. I can tell that you aren't Slytherin material. Now let's have another look. Loyal, but not loyal enough for Hufflepuff. You don't care about learning, so Ravenclaw is out. Yes, you have a brave heart. I know where you are to go now. GRYFFINDOR!_

Sirius jumped off the stool happily and gave the hat to McGonagall before sitting down at the applauding table.

"Lupin, Remus!" McGonagall called after some more names were called.

Sirius looked up to see the boy that he and James made a deal with.

Remus sat on the stool and let his world go black when the hat covered his eyes.

_A werewolf, eh? Never had to sort someone like you before._

Remus groaned.

_Don't worry. No one will know about that. Now where should I put you? Not very trusting, so Hufflepuff is out. Definitely not a Slytherin. Very smart and you enjoy learning. Could be a Ravenclaw._

_Go with Ravenclaw then! _Remus thought quickly.

_What's this? A deal with some boys about being friends. _The hat chuckled. _You are definitely brave to come here when you are a werewolf. You could be a Gryffindor._

_Don't you dare put me in Gryffindor. _Remus growled.

The hat chuckled. _Inside, you really want to be a Gryffindor. You really want to be their friends._

_No, I don't._

_Yes, you do._

James looked at Sirius at the Gryffindor table and raised a brow. Sirius shrugged his shoulders and looked back at Remus.

Peter turned to look James. "Think he'll make it to Gryffindor?"

"He better. We can't annoy the hell out of him if he doesn't make it. He's going to be our brother." James grinned.

Peter chuckled and shook his head. "I almost feel sorry for Remus? That's what his name is, right?"

"That's what McGonagall said." James replied.

_Yes, I think this is the best house for you._

_No. Don't. I don't want to be their friend._

_Yes, you do. You're just frightened to make friends. Trust me. You'll thank me for this later._

Remus groaned.

_GRYFFINDOR!_

As the Gryffindor table erupted into applause, Sirius, James, and Peter roared their approval.

"Damn it!" Remus shouted as he ripped the hat off his head and glared at the three boys he met on the train. He didn't even notice everyone staring at him in confusion.

Seeing as Peter, James, and Sirius were the only ones to understand his frustration, they howled with laughter.

"It's your own fault, Remus." James said, grinning like no tomorrow as Remus moved to the Gryffindor table, only to pause next to James to smack him in the arm before sitting down next to Sirius, who was also smacked by Remus.

"Don't start." Remus growled.

Sirius pouted."Don't be mean, Rem." He smiled and hugged Remus. "Now we can be brothers."

Remus pushed Sirius off of himself. "Not likely. The deal only stays in affect if all four of us landed in the same house."

"Oh," Sirius said, before turning to James and Peter. "Make sure you two end up in Gryffindor."

Peter and James laughed. "Course we will. We can't annoy Remus to death if we aren't." The latter said.

Remus start to slam his head repeatedly on the table. Maybe, just maybe he could cause himself a concussion. Some of the older students chuckled at the four. They weren't sure of what was going on, but the banter was amusing.

"Pettigrew, Peter!" Was called after a while.

_Hmm. Where should I put you? Not Slytherin or Ravenclaw. Could be Hufflepuff. Hmm. No, not loyal enough for Hufflepuff. Maybe Gryffindor. Yes, you seem brave enough. GRYFFINDOR!_

Peter hopped off the stool and went to sit across from Sirius.

"YES!" James screamed. "One more to go, Remus!"

"You do realize you are talking about yourself?" Remus asked bored. "It would have been better to say, 'Just me to go, Remus.'"

"What does it matter how I say it? You know what I was talking about." James argued.

"Potter, James!" McGonagall said to cut the two off...Such troublemakers, she could already tell.

James went up to the stool and sat down. The hat barely touched his head when it called out, "GRYFFINDOR!"

James smiled and jumped off the stool. "HA! Take that Remus Lupin!" He sat next to Peter and smiled at Remus.

Remus groaned and started to continuously slam his head on the table. "Come on, Remy. We aren't that bad. We get to be brothers now." James said.

Remus lifted his head and glared at James. "Don't call me that. It's Remus. And not that bad? You insulted Severus on the train and then threw us into a lake. I can tell already you two are going to be troublemakers."

"Hmm." James said. "Do you guys like pranks?"

Sirius smirked and Peter smiled.

"Oh no." Remus groaned. "You guys are prankster, aren't you?"

"Come on, Remus. It'll be fun." Sirius said.

"Will you four be quiet?" A girl with red hair that Remus recognized as Lily Evans asked.

James smiled charmingly at her. "Hi, I'm James Potter. And you would be?"

Remus rolled his eyes.

Lily frowned and turned away from him.

James frowned and turned to Sirius confused. Sirius laughed and shook his head.

"Snape, Severus!"

"Hey, it's Snivellus!" Sirius said.

James looked up at Snape and glared. "I hate him."

"SLYTHERIN!"

"What he ever do to you?" Remus said.

"Well, he's here for one." Sirius replied.

Remus sighed and faced the front of the Great Hall.

When the sorting was finished, Dumbledore stood up and smiled. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!" He sat back down as the hall exploded into applause.

"He's mad." Sirius said grinning. "I'm sure he won't expel us for a few pranks."

Remus groaned let his head slam on the table. "Whatever. Just leave me out of them."

"Now what kind of friends would we be if all we let you do is study and do homework." Sirius said.

"Oh no." Remus muttered.

Sirius and James smirked. "Oh yes. You're ours, Remus. You're in this group now and this group pulls pranks. You're not getting out of it." James said.

"What if I don't want to be part of your group?" Remus replied.

"You made a deal to be our friend if we were in the same house, so you're stuck with us now." James said.

"I made that deal because I thought I would be in a different house." Remus pouted.

James and Sirius grinned, while Peter smiled.

At the end of the feast, Dumbledore stood up and smiled. "Ahem — just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, some of you might have noticed the new addition to the ground. A Whomping Willow. This is a very dangerous tree. Stay away from it. And now off to bed, all of you!"

The Gryffindor first years stood up and followed their two fifth year prefects. "Here we are." The prefect said when they reached a painting of a fat lady. "The password is wolfsbane."

Remus tensed at hearing the password, but relaxed a second later.

The painting opened allowing the kids to enter. After being directed to their dorms, the four boys entered the dorm and claimed their beds. In the room, there were four beds with red drapes surrounding all the beds. There was an aisle between the four beds that led to a door at the end of the room that led to a bathroom for the four boys that had two showers and sinks in it. Remus claimed the bed next to the window and James took the one next to Remus's. Peter took the bed across from James and Sirius took the one across from Remus.

Remus lay down on his bed with his hands resting under his head and was staring at the ceiling, while James and Sirius were sitting up on their beds talking. Peter sat on his bed watching the two boys talk and throwing comments in a few times, but most of the time just stayed quiet. To Remus he seemed like a shy, nervous boy who followed others and never made a name for himself.

"I wish first years could try out for Quidditch." James was saying.

Sirius smiled. "Me too. We'll just have to tryout next year."

"If there are any positions open." James muttered. He turned to look at Remus. "You never did answer earlier. Do you like Quidditch?"

"Not really. I don't see the point of it." Remus replied thoughtfully. "It's just people flying around on brooms throwing balls around. Seems pointless really."

James and Sirius gasped horrified. "Pointless?"

"You insult us." Sirius said dramatically.

"I'm entitled to my opinion." Remus replied, though there was a hint of amusement in his eyes at their reactions.

James shook his head and sighed. "Hate Quidditch? That just isn't right. We're going to have to fix that, Sirius."

"I didn't say hate. Just don't like it that much." Remus said.

None of the boys heard him though as they were in their own conversation.

Sirius nodded his head seriously. "Yes, we will. We can't have a roommate hating Quidditch."

Remus sighed. "I didn't say hate."

The two Quidditch fanatics still ignored Remus. Sirius stood up and started pacing back and forth between the two beds. James stayed sitting on his bed, but had a very serious expression on his face.

"Guys, I didn't say hate." Remus repeated.

James turned back to Remus. "So you do like the game?"

"I didn't say like. And I didn't say hate. I just dislike the game." Remus said.

"Dislike is just as bad as hate. We will have to fix this. We are not going to spend the next seven years in a dorm with a hater of Quidditch." Sirius said.

Remus looked at Sirius weirdly, but just shook his head. He grabbed his pajamas out of his trunk and pulled the curtains shut around his bed. Pulling his robe and shirt off, Remus looked at his chest and arms. His entire body was covered in scars from all those transformation. Without anyone to attack, Remus scratched and bit himself, leaving himself covered in scars. Remus ran a hand over one of his newest scars. It was still pink from when he scratched himself horribly a couple weeks ago. Remus changed behind his curtains because he didn't want his roommates to see all the scars that littered his body. They would ask questions. Questions that the young boy wouldn't be able to answer and he couldn't lie to them, since he was a horrible liar.

When he was finished changing, Remus threw his clothes in his trunks and saw that the other boys were finishing changing into their pajamas too. "Night guys." Remus said and crawled back into his bed.

"Night Remy." Sirius said. "Night James. Night Peter."

"Don't call me that." Remus growled, making Sirius laugh.

"Night Sirius, Peter, Rem." James said.

Remus stuck his head out of his curtains. "Do you want to die painfully?"

"Sorry." James replied, but was smiling none the less.

"Night all." Peter said.

The three boys climbed into their beds and pulled their own curtains shut. Remus glared at their curtains, but shrugged and laid back down. He rubbed his eyes tiredly and curled up into a ball under his blankets.


	3. Chapter 3: First Day

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

**The Marauders Year 1**

**Chapter 3: First Day**

James stood in the middle of his room looking at his three sleeping roommates with a smirk on his face. He walked over to Sirius's bed and pulled the curtains apart. He grabbed Sirius's blankets and gave a mighty pull, making Sirius flipped onto the floor. Sirius landed on the floor with a loud thump.

"POTTER!" Sirius yelled angrily, when he saw the black haired wizard standing on the other side of his bed, smiling innocently, but the smile was ruined because of James holding the blankets.

"Wha's going on?" Peter slurred from his bed next to Sirius. He pulled his curtains back to see Sirius laying on his stomach on the floor and blinked. "What happened to you?"

"Jamesie here thought it would be nice to throw me off of my bed." Sirius growled angrily, as he stood up and dusted imaginary dirt off of himself.

James crossed his arms and glared at Peter. "Peter, you weren't suppose to wake up. You were suppose to let Sirius and I rudely wake you up."

Peter rolled his eyes and climbed out of bed to get dressed. "Sorry, but I don't enjoy the idea of being woken up by the two of you."

"I guess we can wake Remus up." Sirius said, glancing at Remus's bed. "Since Peter is being a bad sport. I'm surprised he didn't wake up from the noise already."

"Right." Peter rolled his eyes again.

Sirius stood up and looked at James. "How shall we wake Remus up?"

"Let's go jump on his bed." James said happily. "Want to join us, Peter?"

Peter chuckled and shook his head. "I want to live. If you want to die, then go ahead."

Sirius shrugged his shoulders and he and James moved over to Remus's bed. They pulled the curtains apart and James held up three fingers. James put a finger down for each second until he reached zero. At zero, James and Sirius jumped onto Remus's bed and started jumping up and own. "WAKE UP, REMY! WAKE UP!" Sirius yelled as they jumped.

Remus groaned and threw his pillow at Sirius, knocking him off the bed, then pulled the blankets over his head. "Shut up. M'sleeping."

"No, no, Remy. It's time to get up. No more sleeping." James said. He stopped jumping and pulled the blanket off of Remus and threw it onto the floor. "Now get up, Remy. It's time for breakfast."

Remus kicked James off his bed and pulled his curtains shut. "M'sleeping. Go away, you stupid prats."

James fell to the ground and hit his head. "Ow." He mumbled and rubbed his head. Sirius and James looked at each other and laughed. "Come on, Remy. It's time to get up. No more sleeping. We have to go get our schedules and breakfast."

There was no reply from Remus's bed so Sirius pulled the curtains apart again to see Remus curled up in the ball and sleeping. "He's already asleep." Sirius muttered. "He must really want to sleep."

Sighing, Sirius went into the bathroom and came back a minute later with a glass of water. "This should get him up." He poured the water over Remus's head and jumped backwards when the young werewolf screamed and fell out of bed.

James and Sirius laughed before helping him up. "Good, now that you're awake, get dressed." James ordered.

"Yes mother." Remus muttered sarcastically, still half-asleep.

James went back to his bed and pouted.

Remus rolled his eyes. He grabbed his clothes and pulled his curtains shut around his bed.

"Remy, hurry up. I want to go eat." Sirius said.

"Firstly, stop calling me Remy. I don't like it. My name is Remus. Secondly, go ahead without me then." Remus replied.

"Do you know how to get to the Great Hall?" James asked. Remus didn't reply. "Exactly. None of us do. So if we are going to get lost looking for the Great Hall, we're going to get lost together. Now hurry up."

After half an hour of searching and taking five wrong turns, the four boys made it to the Great Hall. All of them were smiling and sat down at the table. They filled their plates with food as the Owl Post arrived. An Eurasian Eagle carrying a red envelope landed in front of Sirius, who paled at the sight of it. He took the envelope and stared at it. His three friends looked at him worried. "Just open it and get it over with." James said.

Sirius nodded his head and opened the envelope. "SIRUS ORION BLACK! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? GRYFFINDOR? I THOUGHT I WOULD DIE WHEN I LEARNED MY SON WAS IN GRYFFINDOR! THE FAMILY HONOR HAS BEEN SPOILED, DAMAGED CORRUPTED, VIOLATED! I KNEW ALL ALONG THAT YOU WOULD BE A BLOOD TRAITOR, ASSOCITATING YOURSELF WITH MUGGLES, MUDBLOODS, AND BLOOD TRAITORS! YOU ARE NO SON OF MINE!"

The howler burst into flames and Sirius smiled shakily at his friends, while the Slytherins burst into laughter. "Sorry about that." Sirius muttered, while glaring at the Slytherin table.

Remus sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "The Noble and Ancient House of Black believes in blood purity and thinks muggle-borns and half-blood shouldn't be allowed to learn magic. You must think differently because you're in Gryffindor."

"How do you know that?" Sirius asked.

"My father told me about certain pure-blood families. The Black's, the Malfoy's, the Lestrange's, and the Nott's family. He doesn't like them or their views. No offense, Sirius."

"None taken." Sirius replied, smiling a little.

After the howler, Professor McGonagall started to move down the table to hand out their schedules. When she reached the four boys, she gave them their schedules and looked at Remus. "Mr. Lupin, can you come with me?"

Remus looked at her confused, but nodded his head. He turned to look at his friends, who looked at him worriedly. "I'll see you in class."

James nodded his head and watched the two leave. "Wonder what that was about." He murmured.

Sirius groaned, catching James attention. "We have double potions with the Slytherins after lunch."

"This is great actually. We have more time to torture Snivellus." James said excitedly, his eyes lit up at the idea of mischievous.

Sirius grinned evilly, before going back to his schedules.

"What classes do we?" Peter asked, looking up from his meal.

"Herbology on Monday, Wednesday, and double of it on Friday, Astronomy-Wednesday night, Defense Against the Dark Arts on Wednesday and Friday, double of it on Monday, Charms on Monday, Friday, and double of it on Wednesday, History of Magic on Tuesday, double of it on Thursday, Transfiguration on Tuesday, double of it on Thursday, Potions on Thursday, double of it on Tuesday." James answered. **[1]**

"Great. What do we have first today?" Sirius mumbled.

"Transfiguration." James answered. "We better get going if we want to make it there on time."

His two friends nodded and the trio left the Great Hall. After getting lost, they started looking for an older student to help them find a class. They ran into two Gryffindor third years, Frank Longbottom and Alice Clienak. Both of them were really nice and escorted the boys to their class, making all of them late by ten minutes. The two third years didn't mind though and said Professor Flitwick wouldn't mind that they were showing some first years their way to class.

James thanked the two and ran into the class with his friends, getting ready to form an excuse when he saw the teacher wasn't there. He blinked and looked at his friends, who looked just as confused. Noticing a familiar pretty redhead in the front, James moved to talk to her. "Hi. You know you never told me your name."

"What do you want, Potter?" The girl asked annoyed.

"Well, to know your name for starters." James asked, smiling charmingly at her.

The girl frowned and narrowed her eyes at James. "Lily Evans. Now go away."

James shook his head. "I also wanted to know where the professor was, Evans."

"I don't know. She wasn't here when I arrived." Lily replied, then turned back to her friend. "Now go away."

James walked away from her and went to sit in the back next to his friends. "The teacher wasn't here when they arrived."

"I wonder how long we'll have to wait." Sirius murmured.

Remus followed McGonagall to a stone gargoyle. "Pepper Imps." She said when they were standing in front of the gargoyle.

The young werewolf stared at McGonagall confused for a second, before the gargoyle in front of them moved. Stairs rose from the ground and moved upwards. McGonagall stepped onto the moving stairs and motioned for Remus to do so to.

The steps stopped and the two got off of the steps and stopped in front of a pair of large doors. McGonagall knocked on the door, and a quiet come in answered her. McGonagall ushered Remus inside before leaving, saying she had a class to attend to. Remus entered the room to see Professor Dumbledore sitting behind a large desk with a kind looking, young woman standing in front of the desk with her hands folded over each other. The room itself was a large, circular room. On the walls were pictures of past headmasters and headmistresses of Hogwarts. They were bookshelves around the office full of books and tables with silver instruments on them. Near Dumbledore's desk was a golden perch with a beautiful scarlet and gold bird sitting on it.

Remus smiled and moved towards the bird. He lifted a hand towards the bird and when it didn't move and try to peck him, he petted the bird on its head.

"That is Fawkes. He is a phoenix." Dumbledore told him kindly.

"He's beautiful." Remus whispered, staring at the phoenix, who stared back at him with unblinking eyes.

The young woman in front of the desk smiled. "I believe we are here for a reason." She said in a kind, gentle voice.

"Yes, yes, we are." Dumbledore said. "Mr. Lupin, this is Madam Pomfrey, the school's matron and nurse. She will be taking care of you during the time of the full moon."

Remus sighed and sat down in a chair. "I thought that was what this was about. So what do I do?"

"On the day of the full moon, if you are feeling up to it, you will attend classes like normal. If you aren't up to it, just skip all your classes. The teachers will understand. They all know about your condition. The day after the full moon you will stay in the hospital wing for a day before you can go back to your dorm. I'm sure your friends will be able to help you catch up." Dumbledore explained.

Remus nodded his head. "Where will I go on the day of the full moon?"

This time the nurse spoke. "On the day of the full moon you will come to the Hospital Wing an hour before the moon rises. I will escort you to the Whomping Willow."

The young werewolf paled and put his head in his hands. "The tree was planted because of me?"

Madam Pomfrey smiled sympathetically at him. "Yes, it was. Below the tree is a tunnel that will lead to a building on the edge of Hogsmeade. The tree is there to guard the entrance so no one can get in. It's for your protection and the students' protection."

"Two things. How do I get past the tree that is trying to kill me and what if I break out of the building? I could hurt the people in the village or kill them." Remus said, his voice muffled since his head was still in his hands. He made a vow to himself that he would never bite another living being. He didn't want anyone else to go through what he has to.

"I reinforced the building with charms so no one can get it or out, not even a werewolf, except by the hidden tunnel. As for how you are going to get in there, Madam Pomfrey will prod a knot on the tree that will freeze it long enough for you to get into the tunnel. The next morning, she will come to get you and bring back here." Dumbledore answered.

Remus nodded his head, before he remembered something. "Where is the Hospital Wing?"

"Poppy, will you please show Mr. Lupin the Hospital Wing, then escort him to his first class?" Dumbledore asked.

Madam Pomfrey nodded her head and led Remus out of the office. After showing him the way to the Hospital Wing, she led him to Transfiguration. Outside the classroom, she said good-bye, not seeing a reason to go inside since the teacher knew why he was late.

Professor McGonagall showed up to her class fifteen minutes late and started speaking to the class. "I am Professor Minerva McGonagall, your transfiguration teacher. Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts. Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."

James grabbed a piece of parchment. He wrote real quickly on it and gave it to Sirius.

_Didn't McGonagall take Remus to talk with her- JP_

_Yeah. I wonder what happened to him. He couldn't have gotten in trouble.- SB_

_Yeah, there's no way he would get into trouble alone. He would have to be helping us with something to get in trouble.- JP_

_I'm sure he'll show up eventually, then we can ask him. Didn't McGonagall just say her first name was Minerva?- SB_

_What about it?- JP_ James looked at Sirius to see him grinning evilly.

_Professor Minnie.- SB_

James sighed and shook his head. _Don't say that to her face. She doesn't seem like the type of teacher to mess around.- JP_

_That's the fun of it.- SB_

_Then call her it in front of the whole class.- JP_

_Okay.- SB_

James looked at the note and shook his head. He looked back up to see McGonagall change her desk into a pig and back, impressing the whole class. "That is transfiguration. You won't be attempting that yet. It is far too advanced for you. For this lesson, you will be taking notes, then attempting to change a match into a needle. I don't expect many, if any, of you to be able to do it in this lesson."

After taking notes for twenty minutes, McGonagall asked Lily to pass out the matches. When Lily came to their table, James smiled at Lily and said hi, only for Lily to purposely ignore him, making Sirius laugh. McGonagall glared him, but didn't comment. When everyone had their matches, McGonagall showed them how to transfigure the match.

Sirius looked at James and smirked. He raised his hand and waited for McGonagall to acknowledge him. "What was the spell we again, Professor Minnie?"

The class turned to look at Sirius shocked, then turned to look at McGonagall, who looked shock, then annoyed. "Do not call me that, Mr. Black. It is Professor McGonagall or ma'am to you. Ten points from Gryffindor for disrespect. Next time it will be more and a detention."

James had to plant a hand firmly over his mouth to keep himself from laughing. It took him a few minutes before he could move his hand and get to work on transfiguring his match. He only looked up from his match when Sirius kicked him and pointed to the door, where Remus was coming inside.

Professor McGonagall looked at the door to. "Mr. Lupin, glad you could join us. We're transfiguring matches into needles. I will show you how and you can attempt to do it afterwards. You can get the notes from a classmate later."

Remus nodded his head and watched McGonagall transfigure the match into a needle. After getting his match, he went to sit in the back next to Sirius. He barely worked for five minutes before he got a note.

_Where were you?- JP_

_Forget it. It's not important.- RL_

_I don't buy that for a minute. You were 40 minutes late.- SB_

_It had to be important for you to miss most of the class.- JP_

_Forget it, guys.- RL_

Remus passed the note back and went back to working on his match. So far he got it to look a little bit silver and the end to be a little pointy, but not transfigure all the way yet.

James got his match transfigured after his fifth try, earning him ten points from McGonagall for being the first one able to do it.

_Where did McGonagall take you?- JP_

_Didn't I just say to forget it?- RL_

_No, you wrote it. And we just want to know. It can't be bad, so why can't you tell us?- JP_

_Come on. We're your friends. You can tell us.- SB_

_N-O! Now leave it alone.- RL_

_Guys, Professor Minnie is looking over here.- PP_

_Professor Minnie?- RL_

_Sirius called her that because of her first name being Minerva. Lost us 10 points.- PP_

_Figure he would get in trouble on the first day.- RL_

Sirius glared at Remus, who just shrugged his shoulders.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, boys. No note passing in class." Professor McGonagall said and took the note from the boys and looked at it. After reading it she looked at Remus, who shook his head. She sighed. "Get back to work."

By the end of the class, Remus, Lily, and Sirius managed to transfigure their needles along with a couple of Ravenclaws in the class. All of them were given five points each.

"What was that about?" James asked, as soon as they were out of the class.

"What was what about?" Remus asked.

"After McGonagall read the note she looked at you and you shook your head. What was it about?" James said, looking at Remus, who was walking behind him.

Remus shrugged his shoulders. "Probably about where I was for most of the class. Can I borrow your notes?"

"Sure." James grumbled. "What do we have next?"

"History of Magic, then a free period, then lunch." Remus replied, looking at his schedule. "I heard the teacher for History of Magic is a ghost. He fell asleep and when he got up the next morning he walked out of his body."

Sirius groaned. "I heard his classes are extremely boring. It puts people to sleep."

"A perfect place to get a nap." James replied.

"You're going to fail the class if you sleep." Remus said.

When they got to the class Sirius and James sat at a desk in the back and Peter and Remus sat in front of them. Remus pulled out some parchment, ink, and a quill to start taking notes, while Peter just sat and stared at the ceiling. Behind them, James and Sirius were talking quietly to each other.

Professor Binns started talking in a boring, monotone about Goblin Rebellions as soon as the bell rang. About half way through the lesson, James and Sirius looked at Remus to see him put his quill down and bang his head on his desk, making them snicker.

_What's wrong, Remy?- SB_

_Don't call me that!- RL_

_Why Remy?- SB_

_I'm warning you, Black. Stop calling me that.- RL_

_But I like calling you, Remy. Remy. Remy. Remy. Remy. Remy.- SB_

Remus looked at the note and jumped to his feet to glare at Sirius. "SIRIUS BLACK!" He yelled, gaining the class's attention. "What did I tell you about calling me that?" He pulled his wand out and pointed it out Sirius.

"Please, Remy, you don't know any spells. You can't do anythi….." Sirius started.

"PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!" Remus yelled. Sirius body stiffened and his limbs snapped together, falling to the ground. Remus twirled his wand in his hand and put it back in his pocket with a smile on his face. He sat down and started to stare at the wall.

James kneeled next to Sirius and poked him in the side. "What did you do, Remus?"

"Full-body bind." Remus replied.

Professor Binns noticed none of this and continued with his lecture.

"Um…..do you know the counter-curse to it?" James asked.

Remus thought for a moment before smiling sheepishly at James. "Um…no?"

James laughed loudly and stood up. "Then we're going to have to ask a teacher for help."

Remus groaned and hit his head on the table.

Lily looked them and frowned, before turning to the teacher and raising her hand. "Professor Binns!"

Binns looked at her and frowned. "What is it, Miss…..?"

"Evans, sir. A student has been cursed and we don't know the counter-curse." Lily explained.

"Will someone take him to the Hospital Wing?" Binns asked.

"None of us know where it is, sir. It's only our first day." Lily replied.

Remus sighed and stood up. "I'll take him."

James raised a brow. "You know where the Hospital Wing is?"

"Yes. And we can just take him to a teacher if we really have to." Remus replied as he put his stuff back into his bag. Throwing his bag strap over his shoulder, he picked up Sirius's ankles and James picked up his shoulders. The two of them carried him out of the class and into the hallway.

"How did you learn that spell?" James asked as they walked.

"I read it in our defense book during the summer and practiced it. I thought it might be good to know it." Remus explained.

"You have to show us how to do it later. You're right. It is good to know some defense spells. We could use them against the Slytherins." James said.

Remus shook his head and sighed. "Of course that is what you would use it for."

"Boys, what are you doing out of class?" A stern voice asked after a few minutes of walking. "And what happened to Mr. Black?"

The boys stopped to see McGonagall looking at them. "Full-body bind curse, ma'am." Remus replied. "Can you help us? We don't know the counter-curse."

"How did this happen and why didn't your teacher fix it?" McGonagall asked suspiciously.

"I'm pretty sure Professor Binns can't do magic anymore." James replied.

Professor McGonagall raised a brow and tapped her foot on the ground. "And who was the one to hex Mr. Black?"

James and Remus looked at each other. Remus sighed, then smirked. "I was, Professor Minnie."

James stared at Remus in shock. His mouth was hanging opened and his eyes widened. He knew Remus would tell the truth, but he didn't expect him to call her that.

Professor McGonagall looked at Remus shocked then frowned. "Mr. Lupin, I expected better from you. Twenty points from Gryffindor and detention tonight at eight." McGonagall pulled her wand out and pointed it at Sirius. "Finite Incantatem."

Remus and James dropped Sirius on the ground as he started moving. "Now get back to class, all three of you."

The three boys nodded their heads and walked back to class. When they were out of sight of McGonagall, Sirius turned to Remus. "You hexed me." Sirius growled.

Remus shrugged his shoulders. "You called me Remy."

Sirius smiled, then frowned. "You called her Professor Minnie and got the first detention of the year. I wanted the first detention."

Remus looked at him confused for a second before he groaned. "I have detention. This is why I wanted to go to the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey wouldn't give us detention, I bet."

"Us? You mean you." Sirius replied.

"Why did you call her Professor Minnie anyway?" James asked. "I thought you would never disrespect a teacher."

Remus sighed. "I had nothing more to lose. I figured that I should enjoy myself since I was going to get detention anyway."

"That's the troublemaker spirit. I knew you had it in you. Making you a prankster is going to be easier than I thought." Sirius replied happily.

"I'm not going to become a prankster." Remus growled. "One detention is enough. I'm going to get in trouble for getting a detention on the first day. I don't need more."

Sirius grinned. "What are your parents going to do? Send you a howler for getting a detention on the first day?"

Remus stopped walking and looked at James and Sirius wide eyed.

James and Sirius started laughing. "Little Remy is going to get a howler tomorrow. This is great and now everyone will know that Remy made a record by getting a detention on the first day." James said in between his laughter.

"You guys are not helping." Remus groaned.

The three boys entered the classroom with James and Sirius still laughing, and Remus frowning. Peter looked at his three friends and raised a brow. "What are you guys laughing at?"

"Professor McGonagall found us in the hallway." Sirius said trying to stop laughing.

"Remus told her he hexed Sirius and called her Professor Minnie." James continued in between his laughing.

Peter still looked confused, but smiled. "And what happened?"

"She took twenty points from me and gave me detention." Remus replied bitterly.

"It's just one detention. Why are you guys laughing so hard?" A Hufflepuff boy asked, though he looked amused himself.

Remus stomped over to his seat and slammed his bag down. "Everyone is so amused at this."

"We think Remus is going to get a howler for getting a detention on the first day." Sirius replied after taking a few deep breaths to calm his laughing.

"You're one to talk. You already got a howler." The Hufflepuff boy replied.

Sirius nodded his head. "Yes, but I was expecting it. Little Remus seems like such a good boy. Who would expect him to get a howler?"

Remus glared at him. "You're enjoying this too much."

"I got to get my enjoyment somewhere. I was supposed to get the first detention of the year." Sirius replied, smiling.

During their free period, the four boys worked on their essay for History of Magic. Or at least Remus did and he helped Peter. James and Sirius spent their time fooling around.

At lunch time, the four boys went to the Great Hall and sat at the Gryffindor table. They were only there for five minutes before a seventh year came up to them. "Hi." The boy had red hair and a huge smile on his face.

"Hi." Sirius said happily.

"What do you want?" James asked.

"I heard one of you got a detention from McGonagall for hexing a student then calling her Professor Minnie." The boy said.

Peter, James, and Sirius turned to look at Remus with huge grins on their faces, while Remus slammed his head on the table. "This is all your fault, Sirius."

"How is it my fault?" Sirius asked.

"If you hadn't been calling me Remy, I wouldn't have hexed you." Remus replied.

Sirius nodded his head. "Yes, but I didn't tell you to call her Professor Minnie."

"You came up with the name though." Remus said.

"So you're the one who got the detention." The boy asked.

Remus nodded his head. "How did you find out about it?"

"People love to gossip. And the first detention of the year and how the person got it is something they love. Everyone knows about what happened." The boy replied. "By the way my name is Bilius Weasley. I have a feeling you four are going to make my last year interesting."

Sirius and James grinned mischievously. "Oh yes. This will be a year you won't forget, Bilius."

Bilius smiled. "Good. I wanted something interesting going on. So I'm guessing you guys are pranksters."

"Well, Sirius and I are. Peter likes pranks so he must do some once in a while. And Remus here is going to be learning the art of pranking and become a great prankster." James explained, earning a groan from Remus.

"My parents are going to murder me when they learn of all the trouble I'm causing because of you three." Remus muttered.

Bilius laughed and stood up. "See you four around."

Alice and Frank came up to them and sat down. "Detention on the first day?" Frank asked.

"So Bilius was serious? Everyone knows about this?" Remus asked.

"Pretty much. There's a Hufflepuff in her fourth year. Her name is Bertha Jorkins. She's a gossip queen. She makes sure the whole school knows all the recent gossip." Alice explained.

"Does she know the meaning of privacy?" Remus asked.

Alice shook her head. "No. That's why I'm warning you. If you have something you don't want anyone to know, don't talk about or tell people. She will do anything for an interesting piece of gossip. She'll dig into your lives if you catch her interest just so she'll have something to gossip about. Be careful if you don't want the school to know your secrets."

Remus paled.

"The only good thing is that she isn't very smart." Franks explained.

After lunch the four boys headed to double potions.

"I am Professor Horace Slughorn, the potions master." Slughorn continued with is speech before allowing the class to work in pairs to make a simple potion that would cure boils. James paired up with Sirius and Remus paired up with Peter.

About half way through the class, Sirius and James looked over at Snape. "Hey Remus!" James called to the boy in front of him.

Remus finished putting ingredients in his potion before looking at James. "What?"

"Do you know any good spells that we could torture Snivellus with?" James whispered, glancing at Horace to make sure he wasn't watching them.

"Why are you asking me?" Remus whispered back.

James shrugged. "You knew that Petrificus Totalus spell. You seem to know more than us. We haven't learned any useful spells yet."

"Even if I do know some spells, they would be useless to you since you don't know how to do them." Remus replied. "And I'm not doing them for you. I don't need another detention." Sirius and James pouted so he continued. "Just throw a dungbomb or something into his cauldron that will make it explode if it means so much to you."

"Can't you just hex him for us." James pleaded.

"No." Remus growled. "Now go back to your potion." With that said, Remus turned back around to continue helping Peter with their potion.

James turned to Sirius. "Have any dungbombs?"

Sirius shook his head. "I didn't bring any prank supplies. My mom made sure I didn't bring anything. You?"

"Same here. It's like our moms don't trust us." James replied.

Sirius sighed. "Remus!"

Remus groaned and turned to look at him. "What?" He hissed.

"We don't have any dungbombs." Sirius replied, ignoring the annoyed look on Remus's face.

"Oh, what a shame!" Remus replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes and turning back around.

"Remus, we need your help. What is something that would make this potion explode?" James asked.

"I'm not helping you." Remus growled.

"Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please." James and Sirius said.

Remus groaned and slapped a hand to his forehead. "Fine, just shut up." James and Sirius grinned at each other. Remus whispered instructions to them and they nodded their head enthusiastically. A few minutes later, Sirius walked pass Snape's cauldron to the student's supplies. On his way back, James threw a wad of paper at Snape to get his attention away from his cauldron.

While Snape was distracted, Sirius dropped something in the cauldron and hurried back to his desk. He sat next to James and smiled.

A few seconds later, Snape was standing over his potion, putting the next ingredient in when the potion exploded in his face, coving Snape in the potion. The potion got on his robes, face, and hair. Red boils began to appear on his face, arms, and all over his body, making him whimper in pain.

Slughorn looked up from his desk at the sound of the explosion and stood up angrily. "Who did this?"

No one answered. They just stared at him. "Will someone escort Mr. Snape to the Hospital Wing? And whoever did this better hope I don't find out. It will be double detention and twenty from you when I do."

A Slytherin stood up and took Snape out of the class.

Lily looked back at the four snickering boys. "That was immature. I can't believe you would do that. Haven't you four lost enough points for us today?"

"Come on, Evans. It was just a joke." James said, smiling at her.

Lily glared and turned away from the four.

"She can't take a joke." Sirius said.

At breakfast the next day, Remus kept looking at the sky, biting his lip.

"So, what did you have to do for detention?" Sirius asked.

"I had to polish the trophies in the Trophy Room." Remus replied.

"That's not that bad." James said.

Remus rubbed his arms. "Without magic. My arms are still sore."

James smiled and went back to his breakfast. "Well, get used to it. Since you'll be helping us with our pranks, we ought to be caught once and a while so you should get use to detention."

"Who said I'm going to help you?" Remus asked.

James sighed and looked at Sirius exasperated. "Didn't we already explain this?"

Sirius nodded his head. "Yes, we did. You're part of this group, Remus. So you're going to prank with us. And from what I saw yesterday, you have a mischievous spirit. We just got to bring it out and bring to good use. With your brains, we shouldn't get caught much. It will be good for us. You want to keep us out of detention as much as possible, right?"

Remus groaned and looked up as the owl post arrived. "Great, the owl post is here."

"Ooooh. Let's see if Little Remy gets a howler." Sirius said.

Remus glared at Sirius. "Stop with the stupid nickname. I hate it."

Just as Sirius opened his mouth to reply, an owl landed in front of Remus with a red envelope in his mouth.

"YES!" Sirius cheered, making many heads turn towards the strange first year.

"You're so mean to me." Remus muttered as he took the envelope.

Sirius grinned at him. "It won't be that bad. They'll just yell at you, then it will be all over."

Remus glared at him, but opened the envelope. Even though his mother wasn't a witch, his father was a wizard so she could still use howlers. So it was her voice that Remus heard. "REMUS JOHN LUPIN! ONE DAY! I THOUGHT I TAUGHT YOU MORE MANNERS AND RESPONSBILITY THEN THAT! GETTNG DETENTION ON THE FIRST DAY! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? HEXING A FRIEND! I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD HEAR SUCH A THING AND THEN DISRESPECTING A TEACHER! YOU'RE SO LUCKY I CAN'T GET TO YOU! AUVA, YOU GOT ANYTHING TO SAY TO YOUR SON!

Huh? Oh yes dear, of course I do. I'm suppose to yell at you, Remus, but I don't want to. So instead I'll say, nice going, son. Good job on getting a detention on the first day of school. Have fun at school. Go ahead and get in more trouble, just not too much or your mother will kill us both. Oh no, I got to go now. It looks like your mother is going to kill me.

AUVA, GET BACK HERE!

By the time the howler exploded, Remus was in red in the face, but not from embarrassment. When the howler exploded, he fell off his seat and started laughing. His friends followed his lead and started laughing too.

"I…..love…..your….dad…..Remus." Sirius said in between his father, clutching his sides in pain from his laughter.

The rest of the Great Hall was either laughing from the amusement of the howler or watching shocked at what the howler said and how the four boys reacted to it.

After a few minutes of uncontrollable laughter, the four boys climbed back into their seats and went back to eating breakfast as if nothing happened. "That was fun." Peter stated. "Your parents are something else."

Remus shrugged his shoulders. "They're great. I've never seen that side of them though."

"And here you were so worried about getting a howler and you just laugh it off." James said.

Remus smiled. "Well, as my mother said, she can't get me here."

Sirius and James smiled. "True. But what about when you go home for Christmas break."

"Oh no." Remus said. His eye started twitching, making the boys laugh.

**A/N: Please review. The faster I get reviews, the faster I'll post chapters. I already got the next couple chapters done. I'll post them faster if I get more reviews.**

**I've seen people make Peter a muggle-born. I can't figure out why they did that. Peter is a servant of Voldemort. A muggle-born can't be a servant of Voldemort. Honestly. So Peter is a pure-blood in my story.**

**Remus might be a little out of character, but I thought this would be more fun to make this his personality, same with his father.**

**[1] Stupid schedules make no sense. Don't question the way I set the schedules up because even I have no idea and won't be able to answer your questions. Besides that, I think I got all the classes first years take.**


	4. Chapter 4: Grounded

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

**The Marauders Year 1**

**Chapter 4: Grounded**

The next few weeks went by fast. The four boys spent them in class, hexing Snape (James and Sirius), doing homework, hexing Snape (James and Sirius), planning pranks that they have yet to do, exploring the castle, and hexing Snape (James and Sirius). In their second week at school, the four boys were relaxing in their dorm when Remus remember something. He put his book that he was reading down and turned to James. "Hey James, when we were King's Cross I saw your father hand you a parcel. He acted like he didn't want your mom to see it. What was it?"

James, who was relaxing on his bed and talking about Quidditch with Sirius and Peter, looked at Remus confused. "How did you know my dad gave me a parcel? I didn't see you anywhere around us when he gave me that."

"I was watching from the train. He even winked at you when he gave it to you. It makes me think that it might be something to use for mischief. But then again, I don't know. I'm not really a mischief maker." Remus replied.

The young miscreant wizard jumped off his bed and moved to his trunk. "Actually, I don't know what it is. I forgot my dad gave it to me. He told me to cause a lot of mischief while I was here and that it would help with not getting caught. By the time we got to Hogwarts, I was too excited and I forgot about it.

Sirius and Peter watched James from their beds, curious about what was going on.

James pulled the packet out and opened it. A silky cloak fell out of the package and onto his bed.

"What's that?" Peter asked.

James picked it up and examined it, then smirked. "It's suppose to help cause mischief. My dad must have used this in school and decided to pass it down to the next mischief maker to meet this school."

"That doesn't tell us what it is." Sirius said. He was starting to get excited by the way James was talking.

"I'll show you." James replied. He threw the cloak over himself and instantly disappeared.

"An invisibility cloak!" Sirius said. He jumped off his bed. "This is going to help us. We can sneak around the school after curfew now and we don't have to worry about getting caught. You should have told us about this sooner."

James pulled the cloak off. "I told you I forgot. And you're right. This is fantastic. Getting to sneak around after curfew. We can learn so much about this castle. Maybe they are secret passages here. Who knows how much we can learn."

Remus shook his head and went back to reading his book.

"We should try it out tonight. What do you guys say?" Sirius asked. The excitement of an adventure was shining in his eyes.

James nodded his head with the same excitement in his eyes.

"It does sound fun. As long as we don't caught. I don't fancy getting my first detention for being out after curfew." Peter replied.

"Yeah. Our first detention is going to be for pranking." James replied seriously. "Anyway, want to go out now? It's past curfew."

"Yes, lets. Time for the fun to begin." Sirius declared.

Peter jumped off his bed and smiled. He didn't want to be left out so he figures he would tag along. He never imagined he would have friends like these two.

Remus stayed where he was on his bed and continued to read.

"Come on, Remus. We're going exploring." James said when he saw Remus didn't move.

"I don't fancy the idea of sneaking out and risk getting caught." Remus replied.

Sirius bounced over to Remus's bed. "Come on. Your dad even said to get in some trouble. It'll be fun. Come on."

"No Sirius. Now leave me alone." Remus replied.

Sirius turned away from Remus and walked over to James. "We're not letting him stay here, right?" He whispered.

James smirked. "Of course not. We'd be horrible friends if we let Remus spend his evening reading."

The two delinquents turned back to Remus. James put his cloak on his bed and walked over to Remus. "Oh Remy!" He said cheerfully.

Remus glanced at him over his book. "No James. Just leave already."

"Now that just won't do. Such negative spirits. You need to be more positive, Remy." Sirius said.

"Will you two stop calling me Remy?" Remus asked.

Sirius shook his head. "Not a chance, mate. You just have to get use to it. Now, you can get out of bed and come with us willingly or we can force you."

Remus laughed. "Force me? What are you going to do?"

Looking at each other, Sirius and James nodded at each other. The long haired wizard grabbed Remus's book and threw it onto the floor. Before Remus could even think about his book being missing, James grabbed his wrists and pulled him off the bed. He pinned Remus's arms to his side.

"James, let go of me. I don't want to go." Remus growled.

"You're going. Now be quiet." James replied. His eyes were shining with mischief. "Sirius, throw the cloak over us."

The four boys huddled together and Sirius threw cloak over them. "Okay, let's go." Sirius whispered and the boys shuffled their way out of their dorm to the common room. After making it to the hallway, the boys stopped walking.

"James….." Remus whined. "Please let go of me."

"Are you going to come willingly?" James asked, raising a brow.

Remus didn't answer.

James nodded his head. "I thought so. So I'm not letting you go. Now be quiet or we'll get caught."

Remus huffed, but stopped talking.

"Where are we going?" Peter asked.

"Let's just walk around until we find something interesting." Sirius replied.

"Let's see if we can find the kitchen." James said. "I'm hungry."

"No surprise there." Remus grumbled.

James stomped up Remus's foot, making the young werewolf have to bite his lip to keep from screaming.

Sirius chuckled and shook his head. "That's going to be near impossible. It might take us a while to find it. We probably won't find it tonight."

"But I'm hungry." James replied.

After wondering around for a while, finding nothing exciting, the four made it to the third floor. All of them stopped walking to see Mrs. Norris walking towards them. She stopped in front of them and stared directly at them.

Remus turned his head to look at James, who was still pinning his arms to his sides. "Can cats see us even if we are the wearing cloak?"

"I don't know." James replied.

Mrs. Norris opened her mouth to meow to alert Filch.

"Oh no. Quick, James let go of me. I need my wand." Remus spoke urgently.

James let go of him and Remus immediately pulled his wand out. He pointed it out Mrs. Norris. "Confundo."

The cat closed her mouth and just sat on the floor confused.

Remus sighed in relief and put his wand away. "Now let's get back to our dorm before anything else happens."

"We haven't found anything interesting though." Sirius said.

"Maybe there isn't anything interesting in this school. Now let's go." Remus snapped.

James raised a brow and pinned Remus's arms to his side again. "We're not going back yet." He murmured and the four boys walked away from the confused cat. Remus groaned and let himself be forced to walk forward. They walked up to the fourth floor and continued down the hallway for a few minutes before they saw Slughorn walking in hallway.

"We're dead." Remus muttered, only to have Sirius slap a hand over his mouth. They scooted over to the wall and walked along the wall quietly. When they reached Slughorn, they stopped and waited for him to pass.

"I wonder why there is a mirror in the hallway." James said when Slughorn was gone.

"What are you talking about?" Sirius asked.

James nodded towards a mirror a little bit down the hallway, since he couldn't let go of Remus. Sirius looked at the mirror and smiled. "Let's check it out then."

The boys stopped in the front of the mirror. They looked around before pulling the cloak off. "It's just a mirror." Remus muttered.

"I don't believe that." James replied, as he ran a hand over the mirror. "There's got to be something special about it."

Sirius started to inspect the mirror when they heard chuckling.

Peter looked down the hallway and paled. "It's Peeves."

"Oh no. We're so dead now." Remus said.

"Ooooh. Look at this. Ickle little first years out of bed." Peeves sang. "What shall Peeves do?" Peeves grinned evilly. "FIRST YEARS OUT OF BED! FIRST YEARS OUT OF BED!"

Remus groaned and Peter started to sweat nervously. James looked around nervously, while Sirius stared out the mirror. "We're going to get detention." Remus muttered.

"No, we aren't." Sirius said.

The three boys looked at Sirius. He smirked at them and pointed at the mirror. "We go through the mirror and escape."

"Oh, wonderful idea. Care to explain how we get thro…" Before Remus could finish his sentence, Sirius used a spell on the mirror so the mirror would swing forward, revealing a hidden passage.

"Everyone in, now." Sirius demanded, as he heard footsteps coming near them.

Remus looked at the passage uneasily, as his Peter and Sirius climbed into it. "Come on, Remus. Either we go in it or we get detention and lost points." James growled. He grabbed Remus's arm and pulled him into the passage, pulling the mirror closed behind them, enclosing the boys into darkness.

"That was close." James said to the darkness.

"I wonder where this passage leads." Sirius said.

Remus groaned. "Please don't say what I think you thinking."

"You know us well, Remy." James replied, grinning. "We're going to explore it, but before we do that. We need light."

"We're going through the passage with or without light, aren't we?" Remus said.

"Yep." James said.

Remus huffed. "Fine. Lumos."

The three other boys lit their wands up and looked around the area they were in. "This is a big room. You could hold a club meeting in here."

James nodded his head in agreement. "So let's move forward."

After walking for about twenty minutes the boys made it to a ladder. "We're going up?" Remus said.

"You bet we are." Sirius said happily.

Climbing up the ladder, Sirius pushed the door at the tap of it open and looked around. "It looks like a cellar. Come on up." He whispered to his friends.

When they were all up, James and Sirius started searching through the boxes in the cellar. They grinned evilly when they saw what was in the box.

"We're in Zonko's Joke Shop." James said excitedly. "Which means we're in Hogsmeade."

"No way. We aren't suppose to be able to come here until our 3rd year." Peter said, just as happy.

Sirius looked up at James. "We can get all our joke supplies now and our moms can't stop us."

"You're right." James replied, an evil glint in his eyes.

Remus crossed his arms and glared at them. "You're not going to steal them, are you?"

"Do you really think that lowly of us, Rems?" Sirius asked.

"Don't call me that and sadly, yes." Remus replied, keeping his eyes on Sirius and James to make sure they didn't take anything.

James sighed. "Relax Remus, we won't steal them. We'll leave a note and some money."

The young werewolf nodded his head and let his arms drop to his sides. "Fine. Just hurry up. It's getting late and we have classes tomorrow."

_Dear Owners of Zonko's,_

_We are leaving money here for you for the joke supplies we have taken. If you could, would you leave a list of your products and though prices, so next time we know exactly how much to pay you. Thanks. And don't worry, we'll always pay you the right amount. Our friend won't let us leave without paying you the exact amount._

_School Pranksters_

Sirius looked at the note and shook his head. "We really need to come up with a name for us. Something cool and we also need nicknames, ones that no one will be able to lead back to us. That way we can sign our pranks with them and no one will know it was us. We'll be able to get away with all our pranks that way."

"We can think of something later. Let's just go back already." Remus growled.

Remus groaned as the sun shined through the window and hit his eyes. _'Stupid sun. Let me sleep.'_ He thought angrily. He rolled over and buried his face in his pillow and fell back to asleep.

A little while later, he woke up and looked at the clock. "AAAAHHHH!"

The other three sleeping boys in the room jumped and fell out of their beds. "What's going on?" James asked.

"We slept in. We an hour late for Transfiguration." Remus explained, jumping out of bed.

"McGonagall is going to kill us." James muttered as he hurried to get dressed.

Ten minutes later, the four boys were running out of their dorm to their class.

They slammed the classroom door opened and came in out of breath. The class turned to look at them surprised, while McGonagall frowned and looked at the four boys angrily. "And where have you four been? Class started over an hour ago."

"Well, my dear Minnie, we were sleeping." Sirius replied, smiling at McGonagall.

McGonagall glared at them. "Twenty points and detention, each of you."

Remus glared at Sirius and James as they went to their seats.

_Never again.- RL_

_What are you talking about?- SB_

_I am never sneaking out with you guys again.- RL_

_Come on, Remy. It's not that bad.- JP_

_Says you.- RL_

_You know, Remus, they aren't going to not let you not come.- PP_

_He's right, Remy.- JP_

_Just get use to it.- SB_

_I hate you all.- RL_

_What did I do?- PP_

_I guess I don't really hate you, Pete.- RL_

"Black! Lupin! Pettigrew! Potter! You were already late to my class. Don't make me give you more detentions for passing notes." McGonagall snapped, coming to stand in front of them and reached for the note.

Remus grabbed the note before McGonagall could get it. He knew she would read it and they would get in more trouble for sneaking out.

McGonagall turned her icy glare towards Remus. "Mr. Lupin, give me that note."

"Um….." Remus looked over at his friends, who looked at him expectantly. Sighing, Remus started to rip the note into little pieces and threw them into the air. Then he smiled at McGonagall innocently, while the class watched in silence, some of them with wide eyes.

The Transfiguration teacher huffed and breathed out through her nose angrily. "Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr. Lupin. And I want you to stay after class."

Remus nodded his head and McGonagall went back to the front of the class to continue the lesson. He looked at his friends to see them looking at him worriedly, so he smiled reassuringly and started taking notes. Truth was, he was nervous about talking with McGonagall after class. Taking notes helped distract him from his nervousness.

When class was over, Remus watched his friends leave the class before going up to McGonagall's desk and standing in front of it.

McGonagall waited for all the students to leave before turning to Remus. "Lupin, clean all the paper you ripped up, please."

Remus blinked confused, but did as McGonagall asked. As he was cleaning the paper up, he saw McGonagall watching him.

"Lupin, I wanted to remind you that the full moon is in five days. Do you remember the plan of what to do on the day of the full moon?" McGonagall asked.

Remus sighed and stopped picking up the paper. He sat on the floor and stared at the teacher with a frown. "Yes."

"I'm reminding you because it seems like you forgotten about the full moon since you are so busy hanging with your friends." McGonagall explained.

"I did forget. For once I felt like a normal kid." Remus replied, looking at the ground sadly. His hands clenched into fists. "I forgot all about my lycanthropy. I thought I was normal wizard, living the normal life of a wizard student. Sometimes, I wish that I died the night I was bitten then I wouldn't have to live through this hell every month."

McGonagall frowned. "Do you make that wish now?"

Remus stared at the floor for a few minutes before looking at his teacher. "I don't know. I'm happy for once since I have friends. But I don't know if that takes the wish away. The wish can never come true since the bite was years ago, but I sometimes dream of it. If my friends ever find out about my condition, they'll leave me and I'm afraid of what I'll do if that happens, especially if it's around a full moon. I'm more scared then I let on. I never wanted to make friends because of all these fears, but James and Sirius were really stubborn about being my friends."

"If they leave you because of your condition, then they weren't true friends. True friends wouldn't leave you because of your condition." McGonagall replied.

"Maybe. I just hope no one ever finds out. I couldn't deal with being shunned." Remus said. He bit his lip to keep from crying about the idea of being shunned. "Professor, may I leave? I'm late to my class."

McGonagall nodded her head. "Go ahead, Mr. Lupin."

Remus smiled and ran out of the classroom.

When he entered History of Magic, Remus saw his friends glance at him uneasily, so he smiled and sat in front of them. "Don't worry. She just had to tell me something. I'm not in trouble. I think that she was so busy talking with me that she forgot about the note."

"That's good. We need to come up with a way to pass notes without getting caught." James whispered.

Remus nodded his head and turned around to start taking notes for the class when he saw he was sitting next to Lily. "Hi Lily."

"He Remus." She replied.

"Can I borrow your notes for Transfiguration that I missed?" Remus asked.

Lily smiled. "Sure. I'll give them to you tonight and maybe we can work on our homework together?"

Remus smiled. "Sure. Meet in the library after dinner?"

"Okay."

Remus started to take notes when he felt something hit his head. He looked at the ground to see a paper airplane.

_YOU'RE ABANDONDING US FOR EVANS!- SB_

_What are you talking about?- RL_

_You're leaving us to go on a study date with Evans.- SB_

Remus rolled his eyes. _It's not a date. Just friends doing homework together.- RL_

_It better be.- JP_

_Oooooh. Does Little Jamesie love Lily?- RL_

"WHAT?" James yelled, making Remus snicker. Sirius looked at the note and snickered to.

"I didn't know you had it in you, Remus." Sirius said.

"Be quiet." Lily snapped.

Remus smiled. "Sorry, Lils."

"It's alright, Remus. I was talking more towards Black and Potter." Lily replied, before continuing to take notes.

After dinner that night, Remus went back to the dorm to get his bag with his friends. Before he could get out of their dorm, James blocked the door so Remus couldn't leave. He had his arms crossed and was frowning. He had a very serious expression on his face.

"Now Remus, I expect you back here by eight thirty and don't do anything to Miss. Evans. We don't need a traumatized witch on our hands. I expect you to treat her with respect and do not do anything that will make her uncomfortable. You are just there to study and that's all you better be doing." James said in a commanding voice.

Remus looked at James shocked. He heard Sirius snickering from his bed. He smirked when an idea came to him. "Of course, mother. I would never upset, Lily. Now move or she's going to think I ditched her. That would upset her and we don't want that, do we, mother?"

It was James turn to look shock. He glared over at the snickering Sirius. "Do you have anything to say before we allow Remus to leave?" James asked, regaining his calm composure, hiding his shock of Remus turning this into a game.

Sirius smirked and got off his bed. "Now Remy, don't be late in coming back or you'll grounded. Now go out and enjoy yourself, but not too much."

Remus chuckled to himself and pushed James away from the day. "Thanks father. I'll see you later."

"Oi, why does he get to be father?" James yelled out after him, but Remus ignored him.

Remus found Lily sitting at a table in the library waiting for him by the time he arrived. "Hi Lily. Sorry about making you wait. James and Sirius held me up."

Lily looked up from the book she was reading and smiled at Remus. "That's alright, Remus. I was kind of expecting that to happen and when you weren't here when I arrived, I realized it must have happened." She laughed lightly and pulled out her homework, putting away the book she was reading.

The two worked together on their essays and answering questions for their classes quietly. Lily realized that she actually really enjoyed Remus's company. He was so nice to her and wasn't arrogant like James.

"Remus, why do you hang out with Potter and Black? They are so arrogant and rude. They are always hexing Severus in the halls for no reason. They act like they own the school and we've only been here for two weeks. We still have seven years here." The young Gryffindor looked vehement as she spoke about them. "You're nothing like them. You are so kind and smart. And I saw you on the train sitting with them. I saw the way you disapproved of their attitudes through your reflection in the window. So I just want to know why you hang with them." Lily asked in a kinder tone then she was using when talking about Sirius and James.

Putting down his quill, Remus put a hand to his chin and acted like he was thinking hard. "I actually didn't want to be their friends. They sat with me on the train and I tried to ignore them, but they were very persistent about becoming my friends. They got annoyed with me ignoring them that they made a deal with me. If we were in the same house, I would become their friend. I agreed because I was thinking I would end up in Ravenclaw and they would end up somewhere else because they didn't seem the Ravenclaw type. But the hat said that I belonged in Gryffindor and after arguing with that hat for a while, he put me in Gryffindor. I guess the hat doesn't like taking demands from students."

Lily laughed lightly. "That would explain why you were up there for long. The teachers were beginning to look worried because you were up there for so long. So you got stuck being Potter's friend because of a deal?"

Remus smiled. "Yeah. And now they I'm theirs and must help them with pranks and learning hexes and such. They don't take no for an answer."

"If you ever need help getting out of doing something with them, come to me. We'll make another study date and I'll get them to allow you to come with me. That way you won't have to help them." Lily said.

"Thank Lils. You don't mind that I call you that do you? I called you it in class and you didn't seem to mind." Remus asked.

Lily shook her head. "It's alright. I like it. It means we're friends if you're calling me something other than my name."

"Right, but you have to call me Remus. Don't use those horrid names that James and Sirius call me." Remus replied, a huge smile on his face.

"What Rems and Remy?" Lily asked. Remus nodded his head and Lily laughed. "Don't worry. I won't call you that."

"Thanks." Remus replied.

The two friends went back to working on their homework, helping each here and there. Remus found out that Lily's best subject was Charms and worst was Defense against the Dark Arts. She was so happy when she found out that Defense was Remus's best subject.

They were so engrossed in their work that they didn't notice the time slip by. So when three boys, two leading the way and the other one just following, came up to their table and slammed a hand on the table, they were quite surprised.

Lily glared at the three of them. "What do you want, Potter?"

James smiled at Lily and ran a hand through his hair to make it messier. "Hello Evans."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Lover boy, we aren't here for you to flirt."

James glared at Sirius. "Don't call me Lover boy."

"Why are you guys here?" Remus asked, interrupting Sirius and James before they could start arguing.

"Why are we here?" James asked. "To get you, of course. I said be back by eight thirty. It is now eight forty. You are late."

Lily blinked and turned to Remus. "Late for what?"

Remus rolled his eyes. "James and Sirius think they need to be my parents and ordered me back to my dorms by eight thirty, isn't that right, mother?" Remus turned to James as he said this.

The young witch burst out laughing when she saw Remus turn to James and call him mother. "How sweet."

"Sweet? You're crazy." Remus declared.

Sirius shook his head. "Remy, put your stuff away and get back to our dorm."

"We will escort you back to, Evans." James said dreamily.

Lily glowered at him and saw her friends entered the library. "No thanks. My friends just came in. I'll go back with them." She turned to Remus and smiled. "Thanks for studying with me, Remus. We'll do it again."

"Yeah, sure." Remus replied.

When Lily was gone, James and Sirius crossed their arms and stared at Remus. "Remus, hurry up. We want to get back to our dorm."

"Why?" Remus asked. "Curfew isn't for another fifteen minutes and you guys like being out after curfew."

"Because you are grounded." Sirius replied.

Remus looked at Sirius with a raised brow. "What are you talking about?"

"I said if you were late, you would be grounded." Sirius explained, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Remus laughed and left the library. "You can't ground me, Siri."

Sirius raised a brow. "Oh, can't I?"

"No, you can't." Remus replied.

Sirius turned to James. "What do you say, Jamesie? Is it possible for us to ground Remy?"

James smirked. "Of course, Siri."

"And how are you guys going to do that?" Peter asked, confused.

"We just have to make sure he's never out of our sight. And pretty much control everything he does until his sentence is up." James explained, earning a laugh from Remus. "Is something funny, Remus?"

Remus smiled. "You guys can't control what I do."

"He doesn't believe us, Jamesie. And here I was thinking about letting him off with a warning. Now we have to ground him just to prove we can." Sirius replied, a smirk forming on his lips.

Peter smiled and looked at Remus. "I don't envy you, Remus. They seem completely serious."

Remus looked at James and Sirius evil, smirking faces then back at Peter. He looked at the smirking wizards, who looked like they could be brothers right, before he took off running back to Gryffindor Tower.

James and Sirius watched shocked as Remus ran. They gained their wits back and ran after him with Peter trailing behind them.

Remus burst into the common room, startling the students in there. They looked at Remus shocked. He just smiled at them and ran up to his dorm. When he got to his room, he pulled out his wand and muttered _Colloportus_, locking the door. Smiling, Remus threw his stuff on the ground and threw himself onto his bed.

As he was doing this, his three friends burst into the common room just like Remus did a few minutes before. The Gryffindors in the common room jumped again and glared at the three boys.

"Hey, did you guys see where Remus went?" Sirius asked.

All of them pointed towards the boy dorms.

James thanked them and ran up to their dorm with Sirius and Peter following close behind him. He grabbed the door knob and ran into the door as he tried to open. "Ow." James muttered as he rubbed his head. "I think Remus locked the door."

"You think?" Sirius grumbled sarcastically.

"REMUS, OPEN THIS DOOR!" James yelled, as he started pounding on the door. "REMUS!"

There was no reply from inside their room.

"REMUS, OPEN THE DOOR NOW!" Sirius yelled, pounding on the door too.

"WILL YOU TWO STOP YELLING?" An annoyed prefect yelled at them.

Sirius and James ignored him and continued pounding on the door. "OPEN THE DOOR NOW OR I'M BLASTING IT DOWN!" James screamed.

"YOU HAVE TO THE COUNT OF THREE, REMY!" Sirius added.

Remus laughed and continued staring at the ceiling. He didn't believe the two would actually blow the door down.

"ONE!" Sirius screamed.

"TWO!" James screamed.

"THREE!" Sirius screamed.

There was a moment of silence, before the door was blown off its hinges, making Remus jumped in surprise. "There was a simple unlocking charm, you know."

Sirius and James blinked in confusion. Then James smiled. "Explosions are more fun."

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU FOUR DOING?" A sixth year prefect yelled, storming into the room.

"Breaking into our room." Sirius replied, thinking it was obvious. "And stop yelling. You're disrupting the peace."

The prefect's face was livid. "I'M DISRUPTING THE PEACE? YOU FOUR ARE THE ONES RUNNING AROUND THE TOWER, YELLING, AND POUNDING ON DOORS!"

"Shh. Lower your voice." Sirius said, nicely.

The prefect's eye started twitching. "DETENTION, BLACK!" The prefect repaired the door with a flick of his wand and stormed out of the room, slamming the door closed behind him.

Sirius laughed and jumped onto his bed. "Now what were we doing before Mr. Prefect interrupted us?"

James cupped his chin in his hand and thought. "I believe we were grounding Remus."

"Ah, yes, we were." Sirius replied, sitting up on his bed and looking at Remus.

Remus groaned and buried his head in his pillow. "Will you two stop acting like idiots?" His muffled voice asked.

James and Sirius looked at each other and nodded. "Fine. I guess we can let you off with a warning this time. But you have to go to bed now."

The young werewolf lifted his head and looked at the two like they were crazy. "You can't tell me when to go to bed."

Sirius grumbled. "Fine. Be that way. Don't listen to us."

Remus rolled his eyes and climbed off his bed to grab his bag to get a book. While his back was turned to Sirius, the young heir smirked and threw a pillow at Remus's head.

The young werewolf turned and glared at Sirius. "Is that how it's going to be?"

Before Sirius could reply, Remus grabbed the pillow off the ground and lunged at Sirius, whacking him in the face with the pillow.

"Oh, it's on now." Sirius growled. He grabbed Peter's pillow and swung it towards Remus, who ducked, so the pillow hit James instead.

"Hey!" James complained and grabbed Remus's pillow. "You're going to pay for that, Black."

Peter grabbed James's pillow and the four started to pummel each other with the pillows.

The pillow fight lasted for about half an hour before a prefect came in and yelled at them to stop and be quiet. After that the four friends decided to go to bed, so they wouldn't wake up late and miss classes again.

**A/N: Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5: First Full Moon at Hogwarts

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

**The Marauders Year 1**

**Chapter 5: First Full Moon at Hogwarts**

The day before the full moon found Remus buried under his blankets in his bed. He was beginning to feel the effects of the full moon coming up. Remus found himself getter angrier easier and was having massive migraines. His already pale skin was getting paler. His energy was sapped. He knew he still had to go to his classes today, but first he had to force himself out of bed. With the full moon tomorrow, he felt so weak and didn't know if he would be able to last the school day.

Remus shifted in his bed and looked at the clock. Classes were in ten minutes. He had missed breakfast, but he didn't care. Feeling as ill as he was, Remus didn't think he would be able to keep any food down. His stomach was too queasy.

Looking around the room, Remus saw that all of his friends' beds were empty. He already knew they would be. He practically ordered them to leave him alone and let him sleep in. They had disagreed at first, but he snapped at them and they left. The full moon approaching made him really irritable.

Rolling out of bed and onto the floor, the young werewolf crawled to his dresser and pulled his uniform out. After taking fifteen minutes to get dressed, Remus was walking out of his dorm. He was already late and didn't really care about being on time at the moment. His legs felt like jelly and he thought he was going to collapse at any moment.

By the time he made it to Defense Against the Dark Arts, he was already late by thirty minutes. He moved over to the desk in front of Sirius and James and sat next to Peter. He rested his head on one hand and took notes with his other hand.

Professor Rana smiled sympathetically at him and went back to the lesson. At the end of the lesson, she pulled Remus aside as the class left. She waited until everyone was gone.

James, Sirius, and Peter stood in the back of the classroom watching Remus and Professor Rana.

The teacher noticed them and smiled. "Go on ahead, boys. Remus will be there in a minute." Her tone implied that there was no use in arguing with her.

Remus smiled at his friends and nodded his head.

Sighing, the three boys left the classroom and waited outside for Remus.

"Remus, are you okay?" Rana asked, as soon as the door was shut. Her blue eyes were looking at Remus worriedly.

"Yeah." Remus replied. "Just tired and irritable. Maybe a little weak and ill. But it's all natural when one is infected in lycanthropy. I'm sorry about being late."

Rana sighed and pushed her light brown hair over her shoulder. "All the teachers know and won't blame you if you skip today and tomorrow and the day after the full moon."

Remus closed his eyes and shook his head lightly so he didn't make his headache worse. "I can't be missing all those lessons all year and it would look suspicious if I miss so many days a month in a row. I just have tough it out. Act like everything is normal. I'll be fine."

"If you're sure…" Professor Rana trailed off and sighed. She jumped back into teacher mode. "Get to class, Mr. Lupin."

"Yes ma'am." Remus replied, leaving the class to find his friends waiting for him. "Hi guys. Herbology next?"

All day it was the same thing. The teachers would pull Remus aside after class to ask if he was alright. He would run into teachers in the hallway that would ask him to. After a while he started snapping at them, telling them to leave him alone and that he was fine before stalking off.

His friends watched him worriedly when he did this. Their worry increased when they noticed that he skipped all the meals that day. When they asked him about it, he yelled at them to leave him alone and he went to sleep earlier than usual, forget about his homework.

The next day James, Sirius, and Peter all got up early. They got ready for classes before going over to Remus's bed. Sirius shook him awake gently. "Remus, time to get up. Remus." Sirius called to him.

Remus groaned and opened his eyes. "What?"

"It times for breakfast." James explained.

"Go ahead without me. I'll catch up." Remus replied, before pulling his blanket over his head and burying his head in his pillow.

"That's what you said yesterday. And you never made it to breakfast and you were half an hour late to Defense." Sirius replied, crossing his arms and frowning. "You need to eat. You didn't eat anything yesterday. You're going to collapse if you don't eat."

James frowned and pulled the blankets off of Remus head. "Actually, you looked ready to collapse yesterday. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Remus growled, voice muffled by his pillow. He rolled over to look at James, showing his very pale face.

"You sure? You look paler than usual." James asked, concern washing over his face.

"I'm fine." Remus growled again.

Sirius didn't look convinced, but shrugged his shoulders at James, who sighed. "If you're sure, then get up and get dressed so we can go to breakfast."

Remus shook his head and pulled his blanket over his head. "I don't want to eat."

Sirius sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why? You have to be starving. You haven't eaten in a while."

"I feel nauseated." Remus replied.

"Remus, are you sick?" James asked. Remus didn't reply, making James sigh and pulled the blankets off of Remus. "Remus!"

James looked at Remus sweaty face and put a hand to his forehead. Remus pulled back away from James's hand. "You don't have a fever."

James looked at Sirius and raised a brow. "Remus, stay in bed today. Do not go to classes. We'll tell the teachers you aren't feeling well. I don't want to find you out of this bed, got it?" Sirius growled.

Remus flinched away from him and nodded his head.

"Good." Sirius replied. He pulled the curtains shut around Remus's bed. "Get some sleep."

Remus listened to his friends' feet fading away. When he could no longer here them, he snuggled into his blankets and went back to sleep.

James, Sirius, and Peter went down to breakfast together talking quietly. "I hope Remy will be okay." James said.

"He'll get better if he just eats." Sirius said.

"We can take him some food at lunch." Peter replied.

"Yeah, we just have to force the food down his throat." Sirius snarled.

Peter rolled his eyes. "Well, he needs to eat."

"Fine. We'll take him something." James replied in a tone that said the discussion was over.

"I think when Remus feels better it will be time to start making a name for ourselves. We've given the teachers enough time to get to know us. Now it's time to make ourselves legend and break school records." Sirius said.

James voiced his agreement.

"So it's time to turn Remus into a prankster." Peter said, smiling.

"Yes. And while we'll out let's make a competition. One that all four of us will be involved in." Sirius replied. An evil smirk forming on his lips.

James looked at Sirius curiously. "What kind of competition?"

"I'll explain when Remus is better. I only want to explain it once." Sirius replied, as they reached the Great Hall.

In Transfiguration, McGonagall looked at the three boys. Her eyes were worried. "Where is Mr. Lupin?"

"I told him to stay in bed today. He didn't look well." James answered, as he took his seat.

McGonagall nodded her head and started teaching the class. As she was teaching, she saw James writing and went to see what he was writing.

The young wizard looked at her confused when she came over. "Is something wrong, Professor?"

"You're taking notes?" McGonagall asked, shocked.

"I figure Remus would like the notes since he can't be here today." James replied.

McGonagall smiled at him. "That's nice of you."

James did the same thing in History of Magic.

After History of Magic, the three boys went to lunch and ate quickly before grabbing a napkin and filled it with sandwiches. They went up to their dorm and went over to Remus's bed. James went and filled a glass with water. He put the glass on the dresser next to Remus's bed and pulled the curtain back.

"Wakey, wakey, Remus." James said gently, poking Remus in the side.

Remus began to stir in his sleep and slapped James's hand away. "Stop poking me."

"Get up, Remy." James said.

Remus opened his eyes and looked at his friend. "What?"

"Time for lunch." James answered.

"I don't want lunch." Remus replied.

"You need to eat to keep your strength up." Sirius replied, handing the sandwiches to Remus.

James sat on Remus bed. "And we aren't leaving until you eat something."

Remus looked at James determined and stubborn face to see that he was serious. "Fine." He said, sighing. Remus ate a two of the sandwiches and drank the water. "Happy?"

"Yes. We'll bring you up some dinner later." Peter said.

The three friends left the dorm, none of them noticing the upset look on Remus's face.

When the last lesson of the day began, Remus got of bed and got dressed. He left his dorm and went to the Hospital Wing to meet Madam Pomfrey.

Madam Pomfrey looked at Remus surprised when he came into the Hospital Wing. "What are you doing here? We still got a few hours before you have to go."

"My friends made me stay in bed today because they think I'm sick. They would never let me out of their sight to come here an hour before the full moon, so I thought I better come now." Remus explained.

The nurse smiled. "You got really caring friends. Do you want to stay here for now or go to the building now?"

Remus thought for a few minutes. If he stayed, then his friends would probably come to the Hospital Wing and find him. They would probably scold him for leaving the dorm alone. If he went to the shack now, then he wouldn't have to listen to their lecture until he was better. He would much rather not have to listen to their lecture when he wasn't feeling well.

"I think, maybe, I should go there now. I don't want to risk my friends coming here and seeing me." Remus answered. He sounded scared at the idea of his friends seeing him here.

Madam Pomfrey smiled sadly. "Of course." The nurse disappeared into her office and came back with a blue cloak. "Wear this. We don't want anyone seeing your face."

Remus took his school robe off and threw it onto a bed. He pulled the cloak on and pulled the hood over his head. "Thanks Madam Pomfrey. Oh, can I keep my wand here? I don't want to break it."

"Of course, dear." Madam Pomfrey took his wand and robe to her office. She came back and led him to the Whomping Willow. Since there was a class going on, they didn't run into anyone.

When they reached the Whomping Willow, Madam Pomfrey found a long stick and prodded a knot near the ground. The tree instantly froze. "Go on, dear. Through the tunnel. Leave the cloak in the tunnel so you have it for tomorrow morning."

"Thanks Madam Pomfrey." Remus whispered, as he slid into the tunnel.

At the end of the tunnel, Remus threw the cloak off and pushed the trap door opened. He found himself in an old looking, two story building. There was a living room, kitchen, and bathroom on the first floor. Remus climbed the stairs and found three bed rooms and a second bathroom on the second floor. All the windows and the front door were boarded up so the wolf couldn't escape the house. He entered one of the bedrooms and decided to take a nap while he waited for night to come.

James, Sirius, and Peter headed up to their dorm after dinner with more sandwiches for Remus. They were smiling and talking about a hex that James fired at Snape during dinner. The hex changed Snape's hair color. His hair changed to gold and red stripes and was put into pigtails. Then Sirius changed Snape's clothes into a yellow flower patterned dress with white high hells. Peter conjured a ring of flowers and put it on Snape's head. Snape was so embarrassed and ran out of the hall angrily. Everyone was laughing at him and nobody expected the three young pranksters.

The three friends entered their dorm laughing and made their way to Remus's bed. "Hey Remus, we brought…." Sirius stopped speaking when he pulled the curtains apart. He saw Remus's empty bed. He looked at James and Peter confused. "Where is he?"

"How would we know?" James growled.

"Maybe he went to the Hospital Wing." Peter suggested.

"We can try looking there." Sirius agreed.

Sirius ran out of the tower with his friends following him. They skidded to a stop in front of the Hospital Wing and entered it quietly, so Madam Pomfrey wouldn't yell at them.

"Madam Pomfrey!" Sirius yelled when they entered it.

"Shush. Don't yell in here." Madam Pomfrey ordered.

James smiled charmingly at her. "Sorry. We're just looking for Remus. He's sick. We told him to stay in bed and when we came back he was gone. We thought he might have come here. So can we see him? We want to make sure he is alright."

"Sorry boys, your friend isn't here. I'm sure he's fine." Madam Pomfrey replied kindly, smiling at them.

"Are you sure he isn't here?" Sirius asked.

"Yes. Now go, boys." Madam Pomfrey ordered.

Remus woke with a start when he body gave a violent jerk. He looked out a crack of one of the board windows to see the sun was down and the sky was dark. In the sky was a full moon.

Remus felt immense pain throughout his entire body. His body gave violent jerks as all his bones began to grown and his internal organs shrunk and his external parts changed shape. The young werewolf cub howled in pain. His eyes changed to bright gold. He scrapped at the ground with his claws as his body gave another violent jerk. He stood on his hind legs and howled in pain again.

When the transformation was complete, the wolf took over Remus's mind. He no longer thought like a human. Instead he thought like a wild animal. A wild wolf looking for human flesh. He had a desire for blood.

The wolf ran out of the bedroom. He ran around the building looking for a way out to hunt for the human flesh he desired so much. Seeing no way out, the wolf ran around the house scratching at the wall and itself. It attacked the wall hoping to break out of the building.

Seeing that attacking the wall did nothing, the wolf started to attack itself. It bit and scratched itself. All night the wolf ran around the house, attack the building and itself, howling in pain and anger from being trapped.

When morning came, the wolf fall to all falls from the pain of transforming back. His bones shrunk and his organs grew back to their normal size.

Remus fell to the ground unconscious.

"Remus, dear, are you okay?" A kind, gentle voice asked.

The young wizard groaned and opened his eyes. "N-no. I-I'm c-covered in bites and s-scratches…W-why would I be o-okay?"

"Sorry dear." Madam Pomfrey replied. She wrapped Remus up in the cloak she gave him the day before. After wrapping him up and making sure his face was covered, Madam Pomfrey conjured a stretcher up and carried Remus up to the school.

In the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey lowered Remus onto a bed, then surrounded the bed with curtains. She left him for few minutes to get him some clothes.

"Where did you get a set of school robes?" Remus asked. His voice was harsh and dry.

"I have extra sets here for you, for after your transformation." Madam Pomfrey explained, as she set the clothes on the end of the bed and grabbed a glass of water. "Here, drink this."

Remus nodded his thanks and drank the water in two large gulps.

Madam Pomfrey started to heal his wounds as best as she could. When she was finished with that, she wrapped his wounds up in gauze. "Since these are werewolf wounds magic can't heal them completely. I'm sorry."

"It's alright. I'm use to it." Remus replied.

"Also, you need to think of an excuse as to why you disappeared. Your friends came here last night looking for you." Madam Pomfrey told him. "You have a while to think of an excuse since I'm not letting you leave until dinner time."

Remus nodded his head. "Thanks for everything, Madam Pomfrey."

Madam Pomfrey nodded her head and smiled at him. "You look better then you did yesterday. You're not pale anymore. Do you still for ill?"

"No. I'm perfectly fine. It's only the day before and on the full moon that I feel horrible. I feel better the day after except that I'm really tired. I usually sleep the whole day away." Remus explained.

"Then go to sleep. I'll wake you up when it's time for dinner." Madam Pomfrey explained.

Entering the Great Hall later that night, Remus sat down at the Gryffindor table. He was already eating when three people joined him. James sat down next to him and Peter and Sirius sat down across from him.

"Hi guys." Remus greeted.

His friends greeted him and they started eating.

When he was done eating, Remus was started to stand up to leave when a hand slammed onto his shoulder and pushed him back into his seat. He looked at James confused, while James looked at him with narrowed eyes. "Stay."

Remus sighed and sat waiting for his friends to finish eating.

As soon as his friends finished eating, Remus left the Great Hall with them following him. He already knew why they made him stay. They were afraid he would disappear again.

In their dorm room, Remus drop onto his bed and stared at the ceiling. James and Sirius stood at the end of his bed with crossed arms and frowns planted on their faces. Peter sat on James's bed, staring at Remus, a frown on his face as well.

"Remus, where were you last night? I told you to stay in bed." James asked, eyes narrowed.

"I….I went home to visit my mom. She's really sick." Remus explained. "My dad was afraid she was going to die, so he asked me to come and visit here."

James paled. "I'm sorry, Remus. We were just worried. Is your mom alright?"

Remus nodded his head. "Yeah. She's still alive. She will hopefully get over this."

"That's good." Peter replied.

"You could have left us a note so we wouldn't have worried." Sirius replied.

Remus nodded his head. "Sorry."

"Good, now that we have apologies over with." Sirius growled, making Remus flinch.

James put his hands on the bed and leaned forward so he was closer to Remus's face. "Why did you go when you were sick? You should have waited until you were better."

"B-because…..um….uh…" Remus stammered and looked everywhere in the room, but his friends. "I-I was –scared…..for my m-mother. I wanted to see her as soon as possible. And after eating the sandwiches, you forced me to eat, I was feeling somewhat better, so I decided to go."

James narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but didn't comment. "Right."

Sirius plopped himself down on his bed and James sat next to Remus on his bed.

"Now that we are all here, I will announce the competition we are all going to participate in." Sirius announced.

Remus looked at his three friends confused. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Well, it's time for our first prank. And along with the prank, we're going to have a competition that is going to last the next seven years." Sirius explained, a smirk forming on his lips. "We are going to compete to see who can get the most detentions in the next seven years."

Remus's eyes widened. "No. No. NO! I'm not taking part in this."

"Yes, you are. Just like you are going to join us for the prank in a few days." Sirius said.

James smirked. "I like the idea of the competition. I'm in. What about you, Pete?"

Peter looked unsure, but nervously nodded his head. "Sure. What are the rules?"

"You can't try to get a detention on purpose. If you try to get a detention on purpose, the detention doesn't count and you have to do something embarrassing during dinner in the Great Hall." Sirius said. "It's the only rule for the competition."

Remus opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by James. "You're in the competition. Don't try to get out of it."

"Fine." Remus grumbled. "How are we suppose to keep track of our detentions?"

Sirius climbed off his bed and started searching through his trunks for something. After a few minutes, he pulled a piece of parchment. "This is going to keep track. I charmed it so every time we get a detention fairly, it will be added to your list. If you break the rule, the parchment will say so by saying cheat under your name."

"Where did you find a charm like that?" Remus asked surprised.

"I asked a second year. He gave it to me." Sirius exclaimed. "Remy, don't disappear like that again. I don't want to ask anyone else for help again."

"Right." Remus replied uneasily. "Stop calling me Remy. I don't like it."

"Get use to it." Sirius said.

Remus sighed.

James smiled. "When are we doing the prank?"

"Friday night. We can't do it tonight because Remus probably wants to rest after his trip, so probably tomorrow." Sirius replied.

"Can we wait until next week? I have to catch up on my homework and get all the notes I missed. I missed two days of school." Remus asked.

Sirius sighed and nodded his head. "Fine. We do the prank Monday night. You should be caught up by then."

"That reminds me." James said, jumping off his bed. He grabbed his bag and pulled out a bunch of scrolls and put them on Remus's bed. "I took all the notes for you while you were gone."

Remus looked at James surprised. "You did?"

"Don't act so surprised." James grumbled.

"Sorry. Usually I'm the one who takes the notes. Thanks by the way." Remus replied.

"No problem. So which prank idea are we going to do?" James asked.

James, Sirius, and Peter pulled out a list of their prank ideas and started going over the prank they wanted to do, while Remus decided to go take a shower.

"What about this one?" James suggested.

"Hmm. I don't know. I think we should start with something simple since this will be Remus's first prank." Sirius replied.

The three boys continued on for a while, going over the pranks. Remus came out of the bathroom with nothing but boxers on. He kneeled by his dresser to get his pajamas. "Find a prank yet?" Remus asked as he pulled his pajamas pant on.

"Yeah, I think." James replied. He glanced at Remus and stopped himself from discussing the prank. "Remus, what happened to your arm?"

Remus looked at his arm to see a long, deep gash on it. It was one of the scratches he gave himself the night before. He pulled his pajama shirt on and jumped onto his bed. "Nothing. Good night." Remus pulled the curtains closed around his bed.

Sirius raised a brow and stood up. He moved towards Remus's bed and pulled the curtains apart to find Remus completely under his blanket. "Remus." Sirius said in a warning tone.

"What?" Remus muffled came out.

"Let us see your arm." James demanded from next to Sirius.

Remus peaked out from under his blankets to see Sirius and James standing over his bed. He shook his head and pulled the blanket back over his head.

"Honestly Remus? Don't you know us at all?" Sirius asked. He grabbed the blankets and pulled them off of Remus. He grabbed Remus's arm before the young werewolf could protest. Pushing up the sleeve of his shirt, Sirius and James saw the long, deep pink gash on his arm.

"Remus, what happened?" James demanded.

Remus pulled his arm free and covered his arm. "I…I have a dog at home. Not a very nice dog."

"I'll say. This look horrible. Why don't you get Madam Pomfrey to heal it?" Sirius asked.

"It's just a scratch. I think it's pointless to go ask her to heal this. It's just a little scratch." Remus replied hesitantly. "Now if you don't mind. I'm going to sleep." He pulled the curtains shut and pulled his covers over himself.

Sirius and James looked at each other. They moved away from Remus's bed and to Sirius's bed. Peter came and joined them.

"That's not a scratch from a dog." Sirius said.

"Why would he lie to us? He's got no reason." James replied.

Peter frowned and looked at Remus's bed. "We got no proof he is lying. Besides that, James is right. He has no reason to lie. Let's just give him the benefit of the doubt right now."

"Fine. But I know he is lying." Sirius demanded. "If he's going to lie, then he needs to learn to lie. But for now, we'll believe him."

"He might have seemed like he was lying because he's upset." James said.

Sirius sighed and nodded. "Maybe. I guess it doesn't matter. It's not like he'll leave again. Let's go to bed now. I'm tired."

James and Peter agreed.

**A/N: Please Review! **


	6. Chapter 6: First Prank

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

**Thanks for reviewing!**

**A/N: This chapter bores me so I thought I would post it now and get it out of my way. And if I post it now, that means we can get to the fun stuff, or the stuff that I wrote in the later chapters that I found really fun and amusing.  
**

**The Marauders Year 1**

**Chapter 6: First Prank**

Kneeling next to Remus's bed, Sirius smiled and started poking his friend in the side. "Remus. Remus. Remus. Remus. Remus. Time to get up."

Remus grumbled and kicked Sirius away from his bed. "It's Saturday. I'm sleeping in." The young werewolf curled into a ball and tangled the blankets around himself. "Close the curtains, Siri. The stupid sun is hurting my eyes."

Sirius sat up and rubbed his head where Remus kicked him. "No. You have to get up."

"Why?" Remus asked upset.

"To work on your flying." James voice entered the conversation.

Remus lifted his head to look at James to see him holding a napkin with toast on it. "What are you talking about? I fly fine. It's Peter who needs help. Did you see him at our flying lessons? And besides I have homework to do today."

"Yes. There is no hope for him." James replied, crossing his arms. "And don't try the homework excuse to get out of this. You are caught up with us. You can do your homework tonight. We're going to the Quidditch pitch to work on your flying. The Gryffindor Team is practicing today. Siri and I asked if we could tag along so we could watch them practice."

Sirius grinned and nodded his head. "Yeah and we told them about your hatred of Quidditch. They were happily agreed to have us come down to the pitch after that. So we're going to teach you to love Quidditch."

Remus groaned and buried his head in his pillow. "I should have said loved it so I wouldn't have to deal with this. Where is Peter?"

"Remedial Potions. Slughorn insisted Peter come for help." Sirius explained. "Now get up and eat the toast James brought for you."

Before Remus could reply, Shawn Wood, a fifth year and Gryffindor Quidditch team captain, came into their room. "Are you guys coming or not? We have to get to practice."

"Yeah." Sirius said at the same time that Remus said no.

Sirius and James sighed. "You're not getting out of this, Remy."

Shawn shook his head, frowning. "So, he really doesn't like Quidditch?"

"Yes, he hates it. And our goal today is to change that." Sirius explained.

Shawn nodded his head with a serious expression on his face. "Yes, we do. I don't understand how people can hate Quidditch. It's should be a crime to hate it."

Bilius came into the room and looked around, smiling. "What are we standing around for? Shawn, I'm shocked at you. You would normally be down at the pitch already waiting for us to get down there to drill us on your plans."

Remus lifted his head and glared at them. "Will all of you get out? I'm trying to sleep."

"Hi Remus. I thought you three were coming to the pitch today, though? Why are you still in bed?" Bilius asked confused.

"We are." James answered cheerfully. "Remus is just being difficult."

Bilius nodded his head. "That figures. A hater of Quidditch would be like that."

Remus buried his face in his pillow and started to mutter angrily at Quidditch and lovers of Quidditch.

Bilius and Shawn sighed and looked at each other. They nodded their heads and flipped Remus's mattress over.

"Ow." Remus said, from under his mattress. He pushed the mattress off of himself and glared at the Quidditch players. "Why did you do that?"

"Well, he's up." Shawn said happily. "We're heading to the pitch now. Meet you there."

The two Quidditch players left the room, leaving an annoyed first year sitting on the ground and his two friends laughing their asses off. "Those two are awesome." Sirius said, clutching his sides in pain from his laughter.

James nodded his head. "Okay Remus. Get dressed and eat."

Remus sighed and looked at his two friends pleadingly. "Please don't make me go."

"There is no chance you're getting out of this. Even if we did let you not go, over half the Gryffindor team is Quidditch obsessed and they know about you not liking it since we spoke to the whole team about this. They are going to teach you to love it whether we there or not." James explained a smirk on his face. "It's best to go now of your own free will or be dragged there by us or the team."

"You guys are evil. That's all there is to it." Remus grumbled as he fixed his bed. He grabbed his clothes and pulled the curtains shut around his bed. He emerged a few minutes later clothed and grabbed some toast from James.

The three friends walked down to the Quidditch pitch together. It was a warm, sunny fall day, perfect conditions to practice Quidditch in.

When they got to the pitch, the three friends sat in the stands and watch the team practice. Remus sighed and pulled out a book after a few minutes of watching. Watching them practice was boring, since all they were doing was flying on brooms and throwing balls around.

James looked at Remus with a grin on his face that died when he saw that his friend was reading. "Remus John Lupin." James growled, catching Sirius's attention.

"What's wrong?" Sirius asked. He looked at Remus and frowned. "Reading? We did not bring you here so you could read. You are here to learn to love Quidditch."

Remus rolled his eyes and kept reading.

James sighed and pulled the book out of Remus's hands. "NO READING!"

Bilius and Shawn stopped what they were doing to look at the first years when James screamed. "What's wrong, James?" Shawn yelled at the three.

"Nothing. Remus was just reading." James yelled back, waving the book in the air.

Shawn sighed and shook his head and looked at his team. "It's worst then I thought. We're going to have some serious work to do on this one."

Bilius nodded his head seriously. "Yes, we do."

The team went back to practicing while James and Sirius told Remus who was who on the team.

Shawn Oliver was a fifth year and the captain of the team. This was his first year as captain. He had light brown hair and blue eyes. He was well built for his position as a chaser.

Angel Jackson was the second chaser. She was a prefect in her fifth year. She had long black hair that reached her shoulders and had blue-grey eyes. She was skinny, but had the build of girl chaser.

The last chaser was Athena Rox. Her wavy blond hair reached below her shoulder blades. She had hazel colored eyes. She was in her fifth year to. Her build was of that of a girl chaser to.

Bilius Weasley had red hair and blue eyes. He was well built and had enough muscle to show for all his training as a beater. This was his last year at Hogwarts and he was a prefect, who only enforced the rules when he really had to.

The last beater was Gon Figgle. He had short, brown spiky hair and green eyes. He was in his sixth year and the build of a beater from his training.

Their seeker was Kaiden Meep. She had long, curly black hair with purple streaks running through it. Her eyes were a bright blue. She was in her seventh year.

The keeper was Niko Mock, who was in his seventh year. He had blonde hair and hazel colored eyes. He was well built.

"Hey James, Sirius, Remus, come down here." Shawn yelled at the three. "Practice is over."

James and Sirius grinned, while Remus groaned. Sirius grabbed Remus by the arm and dragged him down to the pitch with James following with a smirk on his face. "Time to change Remy's opinion."

When they reached the pitch, Shawn threw a broom at each of the boys, who caught them.

Remus looked at the broom he was holding. It was a Comet 1000. The broom was a few years old but still worked well as the first years found out in their flying lessons. "What are we doing?"

"Going to play a game of Quidditch." Shawn explained. "Let's see. We have ten players so it will be five on five. Each team will have two chasers, a beater, a seeker, and a keeper."

Remus looked at the broom and shook his head. "I really don't want to play."

Shawn chuckled and shook his head. "Did I say you could choose to play or not?"

"What did you think we were going to do by dragging you out here, Remy?" Sirius asked smirking.

"You're all evil." Remus growled.

Angel shook her head and smiled. "Sorry. They are Quidditch obsessed freaks."

"HEY!" Shawn, Sirius, James, Bilius, Gon, Kaiden, and Niko all yelled.

Angel rolled her eyes. "So, let's set the teams up."

Shawn nodded his head. "I'll be the captain of one team and you, the other."

"James, Sirius, what position do you two play?" Angel asked.

"I play chaser and seeker." James replied.

"I'm a beater." Sirius said.

Angel nodded her head and turned to Bilius. "Can you play chaser so Sirius can play beater?"

"Sure. Though chaser isn't my best position." Bilius answered smiling. "So we got four chasers now, two seekers, two beaters, and a keeper. So Remus will play keeper. That will give us two keepers."

Remus slapped a hand to his face. "Do I have to?"

"YES!" All the Quidditch freaks yelled.

Remus flinched back and held his hands up defensively. "Alright. Sheesh. You don't have to yell."

"Angel, you can pick your team first." Shawn told her, smiling at her.

"Thanks Shawn." Angel replied. She turned to look at the players. "Okay, I'll take James as my seeker, Athena as my second chaser, Gon as my beater, and Remus as my keeper. The rest of you are on Shawn's team. Good luck, Shawn."

"You to, Angel." Shawn replied. The two shook hands. "You know what to do, Remus?"

Remus sighed. "I know the rules and position of Quidditch. I just don't care for the game."

"Right. Defend the hoops." Shawn replied.

"What are you guys doing?" A brown haired fifth year student joined them, smiling at the team.

"Hi Ness." Bilius greeted. "We're going to play a game of Quidditch to so Remus that it's fun cause apparently he doesn't like the game."

Ness screamed dramatically, but was smiling at Remus. "How can you not like Quidditch?"

"Exactly. So he's going to play a game with us as keeper. Can you keep score and do commentary?" Shawn asked.

"Sure. It will be good practice since I'm doing commentary for the games this year." Ness replied and left the pitch to get to the stands.

Sirius and Gon each grabbed a bat and all the players lifted into the air, before Shawn released one of the bludgers, released the snitch, and threw the quaffle into the air to be caught by Angel. Shawn lifted into the sky to join the other players. Remus and Niko took their positions in front of the hoops.

"BEGIN!" Ness yelled when everyone was in position.

Angel began the game and flew towards the opposing team's hoops.

"Gon hits the bludger towards Angel, who flips in the air to dodge it. Sirius appears next to her and hits the bludger away towards Shawn, who was trying to steal the quaffle from Angel. Shawn dodges the bludger and Angel throws the quaffle to Athena. Athena throws quaffle towards the hoops. Niko appears in front of the hoops and hit the quaffle towards Shawn, who catches it. Sirius hits a bludger toward Shawn, who dodges and throws the quaffle to Bilius." Ness said.

Remus watched the game cautiously. The quaffle was coming towards and he knew he would have to act soon.

"Bilius catches the quaffle and flips in the air to avoid Angel, who tried to intercept him. Bilius throws the quaffle back to Shawn. Shawn catches it and throws it towards the hoops." Ness said, watching curiously to see how Remus did, as did the other players. They stopped to see what Remus did.

Remus takes a few deep breaths and watches the quaffle.

"And Remus catches the quaffle at the last second, pretty good for a rookie. He throws the quaffle to Angel. She flies towards the opposing teams hoops. Gon hits bludger at her and Angel drops the quaffle as she dodges the bludger. The quaffle is caught Shawn. Shawn takes the quaffle and throws it to Bilius, who throws it towards the goal posts. Remus flips in front of the goal post and catches the quaffle."

Remus smiled and threw the quaffle Athena.

The two teams continued to play like this for a while. James and Kaiden were watching the game as they flew around the pitch looking for the snitch.

They had been playing for about an hour before students started to come down to pitch to see what was going. They had been seeing students flying around the pitch and wanted to see what was going on.

Madam Hooch came down with McGonagall to see what was going on down at the pitch. They went up to the teacher's stand and watch the ten Gryffindors play. "Why are there first years playing?" McGonagall asked.

"Hello Professors." Ness greeted. "Remus said he hated Quidditch so the team, James, and Sirius decided to play a game to so him the game is fun. He's actually a really good keeper."

"And Athena scores. The score is now fifty to seventy, in favor of Shawn's team. Shawn takes the quaffle and speeds towards the goal posts. Sirius hits a bludger towards Shawn. Gon comes in and hits the quaffle away towards Remus. Remus spins in the air to avoid the bludger. Shawn throws the quaffle to Bilius. Bilius catches the quaffle and speeds to the goal posts. He throws the quaffle to Shawn to avoid Angel. Shawn throws the quaffle at the goal posts. Remus catches the quaffle and throws it to Athena. James and Kaiden are on the move. I think they see the snitch. James and Kaiden are neck and neck. And James catches the snitch! Angel's team wins 200 to 70." Ness yells.

The crowd of students applauded and screamed their approval.

The ten of Gryffindors lowered to ground and grinned, except Remus who frowned. "I played. Can I leave now?"

"Wait. What did you think of the game?" Shawn asked.

Remus frowned and shook his head. "No, I hated it. I don't get how you people can play this game."

All the Quidditch freaks gasped and fell to their knees.

"How can this be? How can anyone hate Quidditch so much?" Shawn exclaimed.

"We must keep trying until he loves it." James declared, stubbornly.

Remus eyes widened and he fell to his knees, grabbing his head. "No. I don't want to do anything involving Quidditch again."

Angel smiled softly. "Sorry Remus. But you should have lied and said you loved it. They're not going to quit now until they are absolutely sure you love Quidditch."

"What are you guys doing?" McGonagall snapped at the team and three first years, stopping Remus from replying.

"We were playing a game of Quidditch. We thought Remus could do with a game to realize how great a game it is!" Shawn explained enthusiastically. "But sadly, he still hates the game.

McGonagall sighed and shook her head. "Right. Though I would prefer it if you didn't allow first years to play even if it is just a practice game."

Shawn grinned. "Sorry Professor. But don't worry. They are all great players for rookies, even if one of them hates the game. It will be fine."

Sunday morning found James and Sirius grinning madly as they woke Remus and Peter up. Remus glared at them when he was woken up. "What?"

"We're going to the library." James explained.

Remus eyes snapped open and he jumped out of bed. He put his hand on James's forehead, earning a confused looked from James. "Sorry, but you just said we were going to the library and no one is forcing you."

"We have a prank to finish up. Some spells we have to master by tomorrow night. Let's go now." Sirius demanded.

After eating a quick breakfast, the four boys went to library and started searching for the books they needed. Remus found them all and put them on the table where his friends were waiting for him. He plopped himself in one of the chairs and looked at them.

"So, who's the target?" Remus asked.

"Snivellus." Sirius replied. "We need to come up with a name for our group now to sign the prank with."

Remus leaned back in his seat and looked the ceiling. "What do we want our name to mean?"

"It has to sound cool." James said. "I don't want people going around talking about us with a stupid name."

The four boys fell quiet and thought about a good name for themselves. After about ten minutes, Sirius slammed his head on the table. "I give up. Let's forget the name for now. Let's work on finishing preparing the prank. We'll come up with a name later."

"Hey, after we do our prank we should sneak out again sometime and explore the castle more. We could find more passages and continuing searching for the castle." James said.

Remus rolled his eyes. "No thanks. The last time we went marauding we were an hour late to Transfiguration."

"Oh come on, Remy. It will be fun. You can't tell us you didn't have fun the last time we sneaked out." Sirius said.

"Will it make you feel better if we do it on the weekend?" James asked.

Remus glowered at Sirius, but thought about what James said. "Fine. We can sneak out on the weekends, but only on the weekends."

Sirius pouted, but agreed. "What are the spells we need to pull this off?"

Peter, Sirius, and James turned to look at Remus. "Why are you looking at me?"

"This is your prank idea so you'll be in charge of everything we do." James explained. His eyes lit up in excitement. "Whosever prank idea we use, is the one in charge of the prank unless we have vote and decide that person shouldn't be in charge of the prank. This should be one of our rules."

"Rules?" Sirius, Remus, and Peter inquired.

James nodded his head viciously. "Yes rules for our group. When we figure out the name of our group, we should have rules for ourselves. These rules will only be known by us."

"Why should we have rules?" Remus asked confused.

"Cause these will be rules of our friendship. Following these rules will make us closer. We'll be brothers. We won't have any secrets between us." Sirius explained, catching on to what James was trying to say.

Remus bit his lip and looked down at the table. No secrets between us? That made the young wizard for uncomfortable. He had a big secret and he couldn't tell anyone. If he told his friends his secret they would abandon him. Remus knew they would tell the whole school if he told them then he would be expelled. He didn't want to have to leave school. He really liked it here and he had a lot of fun with his friends. Even though he was use to being alone, Remus didn't want to be disowned by his friends. Being shunned again would be horrible. He was getting use to having friends for once and might not be able to handle being alone again.

"Hey Remus! Anyone in there! Remus!" James asked, after Remus went quiet and started to ignore everything that he, Sirius, and Peter were saying. "Remus!" Sighing, James kicked Remus in the shin hard.

Remus jumped and fell out of his seat. He started rubbing his leg where James kicked him. "Why'd you that?"

James held his hand out and helped Remus to his feet. "You spaced out. I was trying to get your attention."

"Well, you have my attention. What do you need?" Remus asked.

"We need to start working on the prank. If we don't start working now, we'll have to skip lunch." James explained seriously. "And I don't know about you, but I don't want to skip lunch."

Remus rolled his eyes. "With the way you and Sirius eat, I'm not surprised." Remus looked around the library and frowned. "Let's take these books back to our dorm and looked the spells up there. We can practice them there to."

"Why?" Sirius asked.

"We don't want people to know about us the one pulling the pranks, right?" Remus questioned.

Sirius nodded his head.

"People might suspect us because you and James were in the library on a Sunday." Remus explained.

"Good point." James replied.

The four boys grabbed their stuff and left the library. They went to their dorm and spent the rest of the day working on the spells they would need for their prank, only stopping to go get lunch and dinner.

"Are we sure this will work?" James asked.

"Yes. If you do it the way I told you, everything will be fine." Remus replied, pushing his bangs out of his face.

Sirius plopped himself down on his bed. "Finally, we're ready. This is going to be great. I can't wait for dinner tomorrow."

Peter smiled. "There's just one thing missing."

Sirius raised a brow. "What's that?"

"Our name." Peter replied.

"I still haven't come up with anything." Sirius replied, frowning.

James ran a hand through his hair, making it messier. "A name?" The messy haired boy thought for a minute before he smiled. "Hey Remy, what was that word you said in the library earlier when I suggested we sneak out again?"

"Um…what word?" Remus asked, befuddled.

"Come on. You have to remember what the word is. It began with an m." James said.

Remus thought for a minute. "Um…do you mean marauding?"

"Yes! That word!" James exclaimed, happily.

"Marauding?" Sirius questioned, confused. "What about it?"

"I like the word. We can change it to The Marauders." James explained.

Sirius smiled. "We can be The Marauders. That can be our name. Let's have a vote. All those in favor of our name being The Marauders say aye."

"Aye!" Four voices said at once.

The next day, the four friends were finding it difficult to concentrate in class. They were all thinking about what would happen that night at dinner.

Professor Rana looked at the four boys and frowned. "LUPIN! BLACK! PETTIGREW! POTTER!" The four boys looked at her confused. "Pay attention or I'll give you each a detention."

"Yes ma'am." The boys chorused.

_We need to calm down and act normal or the teachers will know it was us.- RL_

_Okay. We can try, but I'm so excited. I don't know if I'll be able to calm down.- JP_

_Just try to act like nothing is going to happen.- RL_

_Easier said than done.- PP_

The rest of the day dragged by for the four anxious friends. Even though they tried to act normal it was difficult since they were too excited.

By the time dinner came, the four boys were almost bursting with excitement. They sat down in the middle of the table. "Remus, are we going to sign this prank with our name?" Sirius asked.

Remus thought for a moment before shaking his head. "No. We don't know how to sign it yet and I want to wait for our first really big prank before we give the name out. I think Halloween should be when we give our name out."

James smiled. "Genius. You're still new at this and you can come up with ideas like this. We made a good choice when we choose to befriend you."

"That and if we reveal our name everyone will know it was us." Remus replied. At their confused looks, he continued. "The teachers are smart. We were too excited and weren't paying attention in class. They'll know that the prank was us."

"Do these detentions count in our competition?" Peter asked.

"Yes." Sirius answered. He looked towards the Slytherin table and smirked. "Come on, Remy. Start the prank already."

Remus shook his head. "No. I want to eat some first."

After taking ten minutes to eat, Remus pulled his wand and waved it and muttered a spell. All the lights in the hall went off except the lights above the Slytherin table, which made it look like there was a spotlight on the table, gaining everyone's attention. Sirius smirked and he, James, and Peter took their wands out under the table. They pointed them at Snape and they each muttered a different spell. Three different spells hit Snape. The effect was instantaneous.

The first that happened was all Snape's clothes were transfigured to an orange dress. Then the color of his hair was changed to light blue. Next, Snape jumped out of his seat and onto the table. He started to dance uncontrollably and his feet started to hit dishes around the table, which made the food in the dished splash out and hit the Slytherins sitting at the table.

Everybody watched this wide eyed and their mouths hanging open for about five seconds before (almost) everyone started to laugh uncontrollably at Snape, who was blushing fiercely and was glaring at the darkness. The teachers watched shocked for a few minutes before McGonagall gained her wits back. She stood up angrily and turned the lights back on. She fired the counter-curses at Snape and transfigured his clothes back to normal.

Putting her wand away, McGonagall glared at everyone in the hall. "Who did this?"

Nobody answered her.

Professor Rana glared at James and his friends, then she whispered into McGonagall's ear.

McGonagall growled and looked at the Gryffindors. "BLACK! POTTER! PETTIGREW! I can't believe you three would do something like this!"

Remus looked at his friends and frowned. "Why didn't she yell my name?" He whispered, as he looked at the Head Table. Remus saw Dumbledore smiling and his eyes were twinkling with amusement.

"You're supposed to be the quiet, smart, responsible one. They don't think you would do something like this." Sirius whispered back with a chuckle. He winked at his friend. "Don't worry. We won't rat you out."

McGonagall stalked over to them. "You three my office now."

Remus looked at McGonagall then at his friends. "Professor?"

"What Mr. Lupin?" McGonagall asked, her voice softened when she spoke to him.

Remus flinched back at the kindness she spoke to him with. He looked back at his friends, who shook their heads no and glared at him. He glared back. "I helped with this prank. I'm the one who came up with the prank idea and helped pull it off."

McGonagall frowned. "Mr. Lupin, I can't believe you would do something like this. All four of you to my office now." She stalked off with the four boys trailing after her.

"Why did you do that?" Sirius snapped. He looked around the hall to see the students smiling at them, some with worry and concern on their faces. The Slytherins were glaring at them.

"I'm not letting you take the blame alone. It was my idea." Remus growled back. "And besides, friends stick together. I would have felt guilty if I didn't get in trouble to."

Sirius smiled and flung an arm over Remus's shoulders. "You're a real friend then."

The four followed McGonagall into their office and stood silently in front of her desk. McGonagall stood behind her desk, looking at the four boys in front of her with disappointment and anger. Her hands were planted on her desk and she was leaning forward slightly.

"What were you four thinking? I expected better from Gryffindors." McGonagall growled.

"How did you know it was us?" James asked, curiously. He already had an idea from what Remus said earlier, but he wanted to make sure.

"I suggest that if you're going to pull a prank, try to contain your excitement. All the teachers noticed something was wrong when the four of you weren't concentrating in class and you were all grinning, as if you were waiting for something to happen." McGonagall explain. "You four will have to do better than that if you don't want caught."

Remus shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe being caught is what we wanted."

Sirius, James, and Peter looked shocked at Remus. "It was?"

"I don't know. I knew we would be caught with this prank with how we were really excited throughout the whole day. The teachers are smart enough to put two and two together." Remus explained.

"Hmm. Well, the next time we'll have to be more careful." Sirius whispered to his friends so McGonagall wouldn't hear him.

"Black! Lupin! Potter! Pettigrew! Pay attention." McGonagall snapped. The four boys turned their attention back to her. "Why did you four do that to Mr. Snape?"

Remus looked at his friends. James shrugged his shoulders.

"Did Mr. Snape give you a reason to do that to him?" McGonagall asked, after the boys ignored her question.

The boys shook their head.

McGonagall sighed and took a few deep breaths to calm her temper. "I expected Gryffindors to behave more maturely than this. I guess I was expecting too much. Twenty points will be taken from each of you and a week of detention. I hope I don't see any more pranks from you four. Now go back to your Common Room."

When they left McGonagall's office, the four boys grinned and walked slowly back to their tower. "I think we got off easy, don't you?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah. That could have been much worse." James replied, a huge grin on his face.

Remus rolled his eyes. "A week of detentions isn't bad?"

"Not really. I've gotten into more trouble than that with my parents." James replied. "Anyway, I came up with a new rule for The Marauder's Rules. If one of us gets caught doing something wrong, we don't rat the others out. And no turning yourself in." James glared pointedly at Remus, who whistled innocently. "Remus."

"What was I suppose to do? I would have felt really guilty if I didn't." Remus whined.

James sighed. "Fine. But from this moment on, we don't turn ourselves in or rat each other out. I'm putting it in the book."

"What book?" Remus asked confused.

"James got this black leather book. We're writing all our rules in it." Sirius explained.

Remus frowned. "I thought we were the only ones who were suppose to know the rules?"

"We are." James replied, looking at Remus confused.

"What if we lose the book? Someone could find it and read it." Remus explained.

James ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "I didn't think about that."

"I realized that. Just don't lose the book. I think I can find a spell to put on the book so we are the only ones who can read it. I think there is a spell like that. I have to look." Remus replied.

"That will be helpful. I hope there is a spell like that." James said.

The four boys stopped in front of the Fat Lady Portrait. "Password?" She asked.

"Wolfsbane." Remus said.

The portrait swung forward allowing the four boys passage to get into the Gryffindor Common Room. They were met with a round of applause. James and Sirius grinned, happy with the attention. Peter smiled and looked away. Remus blushed and looked at the ground.

"Thank you. Thank you." Sirius said, bowing at the applause.

"Genius." Bilius replied, grinning. "I know you four will make my last year here great."

James grinned and sat on one of the couches in front of the fire. Sirius sat next to him and Peter sat in an arm chair. Remus sat next to the fire place with his back leaning against the wall, still blushing heavily and staring at the floor. He hated being the center of attention.

"Where did you guys get that idea anyway?" Shawn asked, grinning to.

James and Sirius looked at Remus expectantly.

"Wait, so Remus really was the one to come up with the prank?" Bilius asked, shocked. "I thought you made that up. You said you weren't a prankster."

Remus blushed. "I'm not."

"Well, he's an amateur prankster. We're still working on corrupting him. He's yet to do stuff like break the rules willingly with us." James explained grinning. "But I think by the end of the year you will see a fully corrupted Remus Lupin."

Bilius laughed. "Good. I want to see how corrupted you make him."

Remus sighed. "Do you really think you can corrupt me?"

"Of course. It will just take time." Sirius replied.

"With the prank you came up with I think you already have a mischievous spirit, but your buried it and convinced yourself that you never had a mischievous spirit." Shawn replied.

Remus frowned and thought for a few minutes. He remembered always being a difficult child and playing pranks on his parents and children when his parents forced him to parks. After a while he stopped doing it because of his situation as a werewolf. He grew up at eight when he thought about being a werewolf. Being a werewolf was serious so he stopped with the pranks and stopped being a child. He chose to be a quiet, studious child instead.

James saw Remus smile and smirked. "So Remus, what did you do when you were younger? Had to be bad if you're smiling like that."

Remus blushed and muttered nothing.

"Were you a prankster when you were younger?" Sirius asked, shock clear on his face.

Remus looked away and said nothing.

"You were!" James and Sirius exclaimed at the same time.

Bilius and Shawn laughed and shook their heads in disbelief.

"How a can a prankster change into a quiet, shy student?" Ness asked, appalled by the idea of a prankster changing his personality.

Angel laughed. "So Remus, where did you get your prank idea?"

Remus shrugged his shoulders and smirked. "Why would I give away my secrets?" He looked over at James, Sirius, and Peter to see them with their heads together and talking quickly. "What are you three plotting?"

"Remus Lupin!" Sirius screamed, making many people jump in surprise.

"Why would you suggest we were plotting anything?" James asked, appalled.

Remus raised a brow. "I know you three."

James smiled innocently. "Well, we're not plotting anything now."

Remus snorted. "Sure you aren't." He stood up. "I'm going to do my homework. See ya."

James waved to him as he left. He watched as Remus went up the stairs to their dorm. He waited until he heard the door close before turning back to his friends to continue their supposed plotting.

Remus came back down to the Common Room with his bag. He left and went to the library. In the library he saw Lily sitting there doing her homework. "Hi Lily."

Lily glanced up and glared at Remus. "Remus."

"Are you mad at me?" Remus asked, nervously.

"How could you guys do that to Severus?" Lily growled.

Remus sighed. "Oh that. Look I'm sorry. We just did it to….hmm. We had no reason to do it. I guess if you asked Sirius or James, they would say because he's a slimy git who deserved it for being a Slytherin. But I don't really agree with that. So I'll just say we didn't have an excuse."

Lily frowned and crossed her arms. "That's better than I expected from Sirius or James. I'm glad you didn't give me an excuse to justify your prank. The fact that you also turned yourself in, even when Professor McGonagall didn't call you out, made it better. You four got punished and you gave yourself up. You didn't make some stupid excuse, so I guess I forgive you this time."

"Sorry Lils." Remus replied. "Do you mind if I sit here and do my homework with you?"

Lily smiled. "Sure."

"What do we do?" Peter asked.

"We must re-corrupt Remy. That is our goal that we must reach by the end of the year." James replied.

"Our first mission as The Marauders." Sirius declared, smirking.

**A/N: Please review!**


	7. Chapter 7: Halloween

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

**The Marauders Year 1**

**Chapter 7: Halloween**

For the next few weeks, the four best mates spent all their free time planning their first big prank that would introduce The Marauders to Hogwarts. They kept themselves locked in their dorm with an anti-eavesdropping spell on their room so no one could overhear them planning their prank. They knew better this time so sometimes they split up in their planning.

Remus would go to the library to look up spells and potions that they could use for their prank since none of his friends would go to the library of their own free will. Sirius and Peter would sit in the Common Room pretending to be like good little kids, playing exploding snaps or wizard chess while Remus was in the library and James was out sneaking around the school under his invisibility cloak to get supplies that they needed.

They spent some time with the Quidditch team and playing games with them to keep suspicion off of themselves.

At the moment, Sirius and Peter were in the Common Room waiting for Remus and James to get back. Remus was in the library and James was getting supplies from Zonko's.

Remus looked up at the clock in the library and paled. Curfew was in five minutes. He would never be able to make it back to the tower in time. He grabbed his bag and a few books he was reading and ran out of the library.

Remus walked quietly in the hallway, using his wolf hearing to make sure he didn't run into any teachers or prefects.

The young werewolf heard footsteps approaching and ran down a few flights of steps. He stopped running and leaned against a picture of fruit. Taking a few deep breaths to calm his racing heart, Remus turned to look where he was. When he turned his head, his hair brushed against the pear, making the painting giggled.

Surprised, Remus jumped in the air. He looked at the painting and tickled the pear, curious to see if it would do anything. The pear giggled more and a gold handled appeared on the pear.

Blinking in shock, Remus opened the painting and went inside. He looked around the room to see it was as huge as the Great Hall. There were glittering brass pots and pans around the stone walls. At the other end of the room was a huge brick fireplace. There were hundreds of house elves in the room.

Remus jumped in shocked when the door opened behind him. He turned around and expected to see a teacher there to scold him, but to his surprise no one was there. Shrugging, Remus turned back around to the house elves.

One of the house elves came up to him. "May Binky be of service to you, sir?"

"Uh….is this the kitchen?" Remus asked.

"It is sir. You are the first student we've met in a long time. Usually only the teachers come down here, sir. Can Binky get you anything?" Binky asked.

Remus jumped in surprise again when he felt something on his shoulder. He turned to see James smirking at him. "You're jumpy tonight, Remy."

"Were you following me?" Remus growled.

"Yeah." James replied.

"You could have said it was you. I thought it was a teacher who chased me down here." Remus snapped.

James held his hands up defensively. "Sorry. But hey, it was a good thing I didn't. We wouldn't have found the kitchen if I told you it was me."

Remus smiled. "I guess." He turned back to Binky. "Do you have any chocolate?"

"Yes sir." Binky replied. "Would you like Binky to get you some, sir?"

Remus nodded his head viciously.

James rolled his eyes. "What is with you and chocolate?"

"What do you mean?" Remus asked.

"I've seen the way you are when you have chocolate. You're obsessed with it." James replied.

Remus glared at him. "I like chocolate. What's wrong with that?"

James shook his head. "You're a chocoholic."

Binky returned and gave Remus some chocolate. He turned to James and asked him if he wanted anything.

After getting enough food for the four friends, Remus and James left the kitchen under the invisibility cloak. They entered their dorm and pulled the cloak off, dumping all their sweets on James's bed.

Sirius and Peter looked at the food with wide eyes. "Where did you guys get the food?"

"Well, you see, I scared Remus into finding the kitchen." James replied with a smirk.

"How did you do that?" Peter asked, as he grabbed a mini cake that James brought back.

James explained what happened as the four friends sat on the floor between their beds, eating all the food they brought back. Peter and Sirius laughed when James's finished while Remus blushed.

"This is great. It will help us with our Halloween prank." Sirius said.

James smirked. "And after Gryffindor beats Slytherin tomorrow in Quidditch we can have a party, getting food and drinks from the kitchen."

All the students, except the Slytherins, watched in excitement as Gryffindor scored another goal. The Slytherins booed while everyone else cheered.

"And Gryffindor scores again. The score is now 100 to 70, Gryffindor. Take that you slimy gits!" Ness said.

"Mr. Rig." Professor McGonagall yelled.

"Sorry Professor." Ness replied. "What's this? Kaiden is on the move! Has she seen the snitch?"

Kaiden sped to the Gryffindor goal posts and dived to the ground. She reached out in front of her and closed her fist around a little gold ball. She pulled out of her dive just before she hit the ground. She raised her fist in the air.

"AND KAIDEN CATCHES THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS 250 TO 70." Ness yelled.

The students all yelled and clapped loudly as the Slytherins booed.

James smirked at his friends. They smirked back and left the pitch to sneak into the kitchen.

"Hi Binky." Remus greeted when they reached the kitchen.

"Hello sirs." Binky replied.

"Binky, you can call me, Remus and them, Sirius, James, and Peter, okay?" Remus said.

Binky nodded. "Okay, sir Remus. What can Binky do for you?"

Remus sighed. "I guess that's better. Can you get us some food and butterbeer?"

"How much, sir Remus?" Binky asked.

Remus turned to his friends with a raised brow.

Sirius shrugged. "A lot."

After getting enough food for the party, the four friends went back to the tower where the team was celebrating with all the other Gryffindors. The team looked at The Marauders shocked when they saw the food the four were carrying.

"Where did you four get all that food?" Shawn asked, shocked. "And where did you get the butterbeer? We only get butterbeer in Hogsmeade or at the beginning of school, end of school, Halloween, and the Christmas feast."

"The kitchen!" James announced.

Shawn choked on the butterbeer he was drinking. He coughed for a few minutes before standing up straight. "The kitchen? How did you find it?"

James turned to Remus and smirked.

"Shut up, Potter." Remus growled, before turning to Shawn. "And we're not telling you. If you want to know where the kitchen is, you have to find it on your own like we did."

Angel laughed. "Evil. I guess if we ever want to have a party, we have to come to you four."

"As long as we're invited to said party, we will get you the food." Sirius replied.

Bilius nodded his head with a smile. "Of course."

"Now let's get this party under way!" Remus declared.

"YEAH! Remy is being social now!" Sirius cheered, hugging Remus, who pushed him off.

"Don't do that." Remus growled.

Sirius pouted. "Jaaaames, Remy is being mean."

James grumbled to himself. "Remy, don't do that. I don't want to deal with a whiny Sirius."

Remus rolled his eyes. "As long as you're the one he's bothering, I don't care."

"AH! Remy is soooo mean!" James declared.

"What do we do about this, Jamesie?" Sirius asked.

James thought for a few minutes, which Remus used this time to move to a couch and plopped down on it.

Sirius watched Remus leave. "Why must Remy be so mean to us? We're his friends. We don't deserve this treatment." He said dramatically.

James rolled his eyes before smirking. "What do you say to teaching him a lesson?"

Sirius smirked and nodded his head.

"Oh Remy!" Sirius sang cheerfully, looking down at Remus.

Remus tilted his head back to look at his friend. "Yes?"

"We were thinking that you were being really mean earlier about not thinking about our feelings." James explained, smirking. "We just think you should know that you shouldn't be mean to us. I mean we are pranksters. Do you think it's a good idea to be mean to us?"

Remus snorted. "What are you going to do about me being "mean"?"

James didn't reply. Instead he attacked Remus's ribcage and started tickling him, making Remus cry out in laughter. Remus hit James's hands away and fell to the floor laughing.

"What was that for?" Remus asked, breathing heavily.

Sirius smirked and pinned Remus arms above his head and straddled him. He started tickling him mercilessly with his free hand. Remus laughed loudly and started kicking his legs trying to get Sirius off of him.

"SI- AH-RIUS! S-STOP PL-HAHAHAH-PLEASE!" Remus screamed through his laughter.

Sirius stopped and looked at James, who was sitting next to him. "What do you think, James? Has he learned his lesson?"

James pretended to think hard. "I don't think he has."

"Yes, I have!" Remus said frantically. He looked at Sirius pleadingly. "Please, let me go!"

Sirius shook his head, grinning. "Naw."

James joined in on the attack against Remus. They started tickling Remus again.

"AH! GYAAAAH! S-STOP S-SI-RI, J-JAMES!" Remus yelled.

Shawn and Angel watched the three, shaking their heads. Ness rolled his eyes and Bilius smiled. "Do you think we should help him?" Angel asked.

"It doesn't concern us. If they want to tickle him to death then we should let them. It doesn't involve us." Bilius replied.

"Let's get back to the party." Shawn said.

"C-COME….HAHAHAH….O-N! P-PLEASE….GYAAAAH…..S-STOP!" Remus begged. "P-PETE! HAHAHAH! H-HELP….M-ME!"

Peter shook his head laughing and sat on the couch that Remus fell off of.

James and Sirius continued their mercilessly attack on Remus for about ten minutes before Angel came back over to them. "Okay, you two stop trying to tickle Remus to death."

The two pouted, but complied and let Remus go. "Thanks Angel."

"I only helped you because there's an owl here for you." Angel replied, pointing to a black owl with white tips on its wings and red eyes on the coffee table.

Remus pouted at Angel. "You didn't help me because you felt sorry for me?"

Angel smiled and shook her head.

"Meanie." Remus replied.

Angel smiled. "Yep, I'm a meanie. Going to take your letter? It has to be important if it is coming at this time."

Remus looked at the owl and smiled. "Hi Darkwing!"

Darkwing hooted in greeted and held her leg out. Remus took the letter from her and petted her. "Thanks Darkwing."

James and Sirius looked over Remus's shoulders. "Who is it from? Your mom is okay, right?"

Remus looked back at his friends confused. "My mom? Oh, she's fine now. I got a letter a couple weeks ago from my dad. He told me she was better."

"That's good." Sirius replied.

Remus nodded his head and opened his letter.

_Dear Remus,_

_I got your letter about constantly being caught passing notes in class with your friends by teachers. I thought of a way you could pass notes without a teacher knowing. You have to keep this a secret from your mother though. We will both be in trouble if she finds out. Inside this envelope are four blank pieces of parchment. I cast the protean charm on each piece of parchment. If one of you writes on the parchment whatever you wrote will appear on the other pieces of parchment. The writing will disappear after a while so you will be able to use the parchment to talk to your friends over and over again. I hope this helps you._

_Love Dad._

Remus looked at his friends, who were grinning.

"Your dad is awesome." Sirius whispered, accepting the parchment that Remus handed him.

"This will definitely come in handy in class." James said, taking the parchment from Remus.

Peter nodded his head in agreement and accepted his parchment as well.

"Don't lose those. It will be bad if you lost them." Remus explained.

"Yes sir!" James and Sirius mocked saluted.

Next Friday, Remus groaned in his bed and rubbed his aching head. The full moon was the next day and his body was feeling the effects of it. He felt lucky that the full moon was on a weekend of this month. He wouldn't be missing any classes this month so his classmates wouldn't notice anything. His friends would though and that is what worried him.

Remus crawled out of his bed and got dressed. He checked to make his friends were still sleeping before sneaking out of the dorm. It was six in the morning and no one was allowed out of their towers until seven thirty. That didn't bother Remus right now. All he cared about was getting to the Hospital Wing.

"What do you think you're doing out of bed?" An angry voice said.

The young werewolf looked up to see Filch glaring at him. "Going to the Hospital Wing. I'm sick." He growled and stalked pass Filch without another word. He didn't feel well with the full moon tomorrow and didn't want to deal with Filch.

Whatever Filch said in reply to what Remus said, the young wizard didn't hear. He was too far away by the time Filch started talking again.

Remus stumbled into the Hospital Wing a few minutes later, breathing heavily. His strength was sapped from walking away from Filch as fast as he did. He leaned against the Hospital Wing door for a few minutes to get his breath back. He rubbed his head in pain.

Blinking his blurry eyes, Remus stumbled over to a bed and laid on it. He curled into a ball and waited for Madam Pomfrey to wake up and come into the Hospital Wing.

Madam Pomfrey entered the Hospital Wing and saw Remus curled up on a bed. She hurried over to him and put a cool hand to Remus's forehead. "Are you okay, dear?" Madam Pomfrey asked, worriedly.

"Tomorrow is full moon. I always feel horrible the day before. I wanted to know if you had something you could give me to help me before the full moon so my friends don't worry or suspect something cause I'm always sick on the day of the full moon." Remus explained, grimacing in pain from his headache. Talking made his head hurt more.

Madam Pomfrey nodded her head and left for a few minutes to check to see if she had anything. She came back about fifteen minutes later with a box and put it on the table next to the bed. "Here is a box of minor infirmus potions. The potion will lessen your symptoms around the full moon. Now this means that your headaches, weakness, and feeling sick won't be as bad. You'll still have them, but drinking this potion should make them less noticeable."

Remus looked in the box to see twenty vials in the box. "Will this potion make me less queasy? My friends were worried because I wasn't eating last month and they forced me to eat lunch."

"It will. It should bring your appetite back. Now, I'll allow you to take this box back to your dorm, but you have to keep it hidden. You can't let your friends find it or they'll ask questions. I'll ask Professor Slughorn to make you more of this potion at the beginning of each school year." Madam Pomfrey explained.

Remus nodded his head. "Thanks Madam Pomfrey."

The nurse smiled. "It's no problem, dearie. Now for this potion, you take one potion the day before the full moon and one of the day of the full moon. Your symptoms will lessen and your friends shouldn't notice. You should keep them locked up somewhere in your dorm."

"I'll lock them in my trunk with the rest of my stuff." Remus replied. He took one of the vials out of the box and drank it. His face screwed up into a scowl and squished his nose in distaste. He gagged at the taste of the potion. It tasted like chocolate, lemons, and wax mixed together with a rotten garlic pickle aftertaste.

"I know it doesn't taste great. Actually it tastes horrible, but if you want to keep your secret, you'll have to take it. If that's all you need, you should get back to your dorm. You'll want to hide the box before your friends wake up." Madam Pomfrey said with a kind smile.

"Thanks Madam Pomfrey." Remus replied. He grabbed the box and left the Hospital Wing with a smile. He felt much better than he did before. His migraine was reduced to a minor headache and he didn't feel as weak as he did on his way to the Hospital Wing. He could walk without stumbling now. His queasy stomach was still there, but he thinks he could a little now, so his friends wouldn't worry.

Remus was happy that he didn't run into any teachers or prefects on his way back to Gryffindor Tower. He really didn't want to talk to anyone at the moment. He was feeling better and was in a good mood, but he was still tired and wasn't in a talking kind of mood.

Sneaking into the Common Room, Remus looked around to make sure no one was in there to see him. When he saw it was empty, Remus climbed the steps to his dorm quietly and slipped in. The curtains around his friends' beds and his were still closed. He had closed his curtains in case his friends woke up. They would think he was still sleeping if his curtains were closed.

Remus tiptoed to his trunk at the end of his bed and put the box at the bottom of the chest. He buried the box with some other stuff in the trunk. After locking the trunk with a locking spell, Remus kicked his shoes off and decided to climb back into bed and rest until his friends woke up. Pulling the curtains back on his bed, Remus jumped back in surprise and fell to the ground with a thump when he saw three boys sitting on his bed.

"What's up guys?" Remus asked, uneasily. He looked at the ground nervously.

Sirius stood up and crossed his arms. "Where were you?"

"What do you mean?" Remus questioned.

James stood next to Sirius. "You know what we mean. We woke up and were going to wake you up when we found your bed empty."

"We were worried when we found your bed empty. We thought something may have happened that you had to go back home again." Peter said, still sitting on the bed. He looked the calmest of the boys, but was frowning and looked worried.

Remus stood up and dusted himself off. He tried to come up with an excuse, but with James and Sirius standing there looking at him angrily, he decided he should just tell the truth, well partial truth. "I woke up and wasn't feeling well. So I went to the Hospital Wing."

"And why didn't you ask one of us to go with you? You could have fainted on the way there." James demanded. His anger lessened a little, but he still looked mad and a little concerned.

The young werewolf resisted the urge to roll his eyes. James always acted like a mother hen to him. He always thought he had to know where Remus was every moment and liked to have someone with him. Remus supposed it was because he always looked pale and weak and needed someone to protect him.

"I think I can make it to the Hospital Wing by myself." Remus replied.

Sirius frowned. "Remy, we just want to make sure you're alright. It would have been really bad if you fainted on your way to the Hospital Wing."

Remus sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Look guys, it's fine. I was just feeling a little under the weather. It was nothing too bad that I needed an escort to the Hospital Wing."

Sirius shrugged his shoulders. "Fine. Just promise us something."

"What?"

"The next time you aren't feeling well and want to go to the Hospital Wing, tell one of us." Sirius said.

Remus rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll tell someone next time."

"Good." James said, smiling.

"Let's go get breakfast now." Sirius added, also smiling.

The next day, Remus was woken up by Sirius jumping onto him. "REMY! TIME TO GET!"

Remus growled and pushed Sirius off of him and onto the floor. He felt the effects of the full moon come back full force. The minor infirmus had worn off after twenty-four hours and he needed another dose of the potion to survive until that night.

"Why are you waking me up early on a Saturday?" Remus snapped, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"Gryffindor has the pitch booked for today." Sirius answered, ignoring Remus's tone. "We haven't been to one of their practices in a while."

Remus looked at Sirius with narrowed eyes, then at his trunks, then at the bedroom door. He climbed out of bed and grabbed the back of Sirius's blue jacket. He was wearing normal clothes today since it was the weekend. He grabbed his wand off the nightstand and dragged Sirius to the bedroom door. He threw Sirius down the stairs before slamming the door shut and locking the door with a simple locking simple.

Sirius tumbled down the stairs and landed at the bottom of them abashed. James looked up from talking with Shawn about Quidditch, shocked to see Sirius laying on his stomach with his arms stuck under stomach and legs halfway curled up.

Shawn looked behind himself to see Sirius to. "What happened?"

"Remus." Sirius replied, rolling onto his back and sitting up. He rubbed his back in pain.

"He threw you down the stairs?" James replied, trying to hide his smile.

"Yes." Sirius growled, climbing back up the stairs.

Remus ran back to his trunk and unlocked it. He unburied the box he put in it the day before and opened it. Just as he took out the vial, he heard the doorknob jingle. He uncapped the vial and drank it fast, grimacing at the taste. He put the empty vial back in the box and closed his trunk, locking it once again. When he was finished, Remus jumped back in his bed and pulled his curtains shut.

"Remus, can you unlock the door?" Sirius asked. A few minutes later, Sirius spoke again. "Remus?"

Sighing, Sirius went back downstairs. "James, can you unlock the door for me?"

James looked up and smirked. "Are you that bad at charms that you can't do a simple unlocking charm?"

Sirius glared at him. "No." He snapped. "My wand is in the room."

James smirked. "Right." He stood up and went upstairs. "Alohomora."

The two best mates entered the room and moved over to Remus's bed. James pulled the curtain apart. "Remus, get up."

Remus turned to glare at James. "No."

"You sure you don't want to get up?" James asked.

Remus snorted and turned away. "What are you going to do if I don't get up?"

James smirked and pointed his wand on Remus. "Aguamenti."

Water sprayed out of James's water and onto Remus. Remus screamed and rolled out of bed and onto James, knocking him to the ground. "Prat." Remus growled.

James pushed him off of him and smirked. "I had to get you up. Now get dressed."

After much arguing and resisting, Remus, James, and Sirius made it to the Quidditch practice to watch the rest of the Gryffindor's team practice. Instead of seeing the team practice, they found the team standing on the field and arguing with the Slytherin team.

James and Sirius march out onto the field, while Remus laid down on the bleaches and stared at the sky bored. He didn't like that the Slytherin team was here, but he didn't want to go down to the field and argue. It was the day of the full moon and he wasn't in the best of moods. He was irritable and didn't want to take his frustration out on the Slytherins.

"What's going on?" James asked Angel.

"The Slytherins team is here saying that they booked the pitch today. Something about erasing our name on the list and replacing it with their name." Angel replied, angrily, which surprised James and Sirius since they never really saw her get angry.

James glared at the Slytherins. "Bloody gits."

"You can't just erase our name and put your name and claim the pitch as yours." Shawn snarled at the Slytherin captain, a seventh year by the name of Steve Laughalot.

Steven smirked back. "We can and we did. The pitch is ours today."

"No, it isn't. We've taken the pitch for the day." Gon growled.

Remus looked down into the pitch and rolled his eyes. The teams were in each other's faces and arguing over the pitch.

Sitting up, Remus drew his wand out. He may not like Quidditch, but he didn't want to spend his whole day sitting here, watching the two teams argue. He waved his wand and muttered a few choice words and pointed his wand at Laughalot. Remus waved his wand again and murmured another spell, which hit Laughalot again.

Both teams stopped arguing and looked at Laughalot shocked. Instead of being in his robes, Laughalot was dressed in a strapless dress with long lavender color hair.

The Slytherin stared wide eyed at their captain, while the Gryffindor team and James and Sirius started laughing their arses off. James and Sirius fell to the ground and started rolling around laughing.

Remus smirked and did another spell, this time pointing it at Laughalot's broomstick. He took control of Laughalot's broomstick and started hitting the Slytherin team with it, chasing them off the pitch.

As Laughalot was running he tripped over the dress he was wearing. He to the ground where the broomstick started to hit him repeatedly. Laughalot stood up and started to stumble out of the pitch with the broomstick chasing after him and hitting him.

The Gryffindor team laughed as the Slytherins ran away with the broomstick chasing them. As soon as they were gone, Remus put his wand away and laid back down.

Shawn wiped tears out of his eyes and stood up. "James, Sirius, which one of you did that? It was hilarious."

James and Sirius calmed their laughter and sat up. "Neither of us. We were too busy laughing to do the spells and we didn't have our wands out."

"Then who….?" Angel trailed off confused.

As one, James and Sirius grinned and turned to look at the bleaches. "REMUS!"

Remus sat up and looked at his friends. "Yeah?"

"That was brilliant!" Sirius screamed.

"I didn't know you had it in you!" Shawn yelled.

Remus blushed and looked down.

James and Sirius ran up to the bleaches and sat next to Remus as the Gryffindor team started to practice.

"Remy, I can't believe you did that." Sirius said as soon as he sat down.

Remus rolled his eyes. "I'm just not in a good mood today. I needed to do something to get my irritation out."

James smirked at Sirius. "His irritation brings out his prankster side."

Remus eyes widened when he just realized what he said. His fear was amplified by James.

"Yes. This is good." Sirius replied, smirking as well.

Later that day, the four friends were sitting in the Great Hall talking happily, well three of them were. Remus was starting to get worried. He had to get away from his friends and get to the Hospital Wing soon or he was going to be late and not make it the shack in time.

Remus was trying to think of an excuse to get away when an owl landed by him. He looked at the owl confused. He didn't recognize the owl, but the letter it was holding was addressed to him. Shrugging, he took the letter.

_Dear Remus,_

_I thought you would need an excuse to get away from your friends since you would spend the whole day with them. Make up and excuse and get to the Hospital Wing._

_Albus Dumbledore_

Remus folded the letter before turning to his friends. He thought quickly before frowning. "Guys, I have to go."

"Go way?" Sirius asked, concerned when he saw the frown.

"To visit my Aunt Margie. She's deathly ill and my dad says she might die soon…She wants me to visit….b-before that h-happens." Remus took a deep breath, then added. "S-she's my f-favorite aunt."

James looked at Remus sadly. "Okay."

Remus nodded his head at friends and left the hall. When he was out in the hall he sighed. Lying to his friends was not fun. He ran up the steps and to the Hospital Wing.

Madam Pomfrey was already waiting for him. She handed the traveling cloak to him and ushered him out as soon as he was ready. "Are you okay?"

"I've been better." Remus gulped. "I never like waiting for the full moon to rise."

"What did you tell your friends?" Madam Pomfrey asked. "It will be good for the teachers to know."

Remus nodded his head. "I told them my Aunt Margie was deathly ill and that she might die soon. She wants me to come visit her before that happens, which set up next month's excuse, I guess."

Madam Pomfrey smiled. "With an excuse like this, you aren't going to make a reappearance in school until Tuesday."

"But I'll miss classes!" Remus whined.

"If you're visiting a deathly ill aunt that is going to die soon, you're going to be gone longer then one day." Madam Pomfrey replied. "Just do as I say or I can go get the Headmaster. I'm sure he'll agree with me. It's for the best. It won't be as suspicious."

Remus huffed and crossed his arms, pouting. "Fine."

Madam Pomfrey set up a private room in the back of the Hospital Wing for Remus since he was to be out of school for a few days. She didn't let Remus out of the Hospital Wing until lunch time on Tuesday. The young nurse told him that all the teachers knew the plan of him being absent until afternoon classes on Tuesday and he couldn't make a reappearance until then.

When Remus entered the Great Hall he was immediately greeted by Lily giving him a hug. Surprised, Remus let his body act on its own and hugged back. "Hello Lily."

"Hi Remus. I heard about your Aunt. How is she?" Lily asked, concerned.

"Oh." Remus whispered. "She's still alive. We're not sure for how much longer."

"I'm sorry, Remus." Lily hugged him tighter.

Remus smiled. "Don't be. It's not your fault."

Lily let go of Remus and smiled at him. "Right, well welcome back. If you need any notes for the classes or help on your homework to catch up, come to me. I'll help you."

"Thanks Lils." Remus replied. He smiled at her as he walked over to his friends, who were calling him over. "Hi guys."

"Hi Remus. How's your aunt?" James asked.

"Still alive at the moment." Remus replied, feigning sadness.

"That's good." Sirius said. "Anyway, I'm really glad you're back."

Remus tilted his head to the side, confused. "Why?"

"I can stop taking notes now." Sirius said. "I don't think my hand can take taking notes anymore."

James rolled his eyes. "I made Sirius take notes while you were gone since I took them last time you had to go home."

Remus nodded his head. "Thanks Siri."

"You owe me, Remy." Sirius growled.

Remus smiled as he reached for the chocolate pudding. "What do you want?"

Sirius watched Remus reach for the pudding. "You're addicted to anything chocolate."

"Leave my chocolate addiction alone." Remus growled.

Sirius smirked. "So you admit to having a chocolate addiction?

Remus blinked. "I ADMIT TO NOTHING!" He yelled, making the Great Hall look at him confused. Remus blushed and looked back at his plate.

James, Sirius, and Peter laughed. "Nice Remy."

"Idiots." Remus hissed. "You never told me what you want, Siri."

"I don't know yet. I'll let you know when I know."

"It's good that you're back, Remus." James replied. "We only have a few more days to perfect our prank. Halloween is in five days."

"I won't be able to help you right away." Remus said.

James frowned. "Why?"

"I have homework to catch up on." Remus explained. "I'll probably go to the library with Lily. She'll help me get caught up. What do we still need to do for the prank?"

"We need a way to sign the prank and we need to make the potion." Sirius replied. "James got all the ingredients we need."

"Start the potion without me." Remus whispered. "Do you have the Fanged Frisbee and dungbombs?"

James nodded his head. "Got them Sunday. Are you sure we'll be able to control them with the potion?"

Remus smiled. "Trust me, Jamesie. I wouldn't do anything dangerous. I don't want to hurt anyone."

On Halloween, the third years and above left Hogwarts to go to Hogsmeade. While they were gone, James and his friends decided to start setting up their prank. With most of the students at Hogwarts, there were less people around to spot the four marauders.

James and Peter set off to kitchen, while Sirius and Remus took the invisibility cloak to sneak into the Forbidden Forest. They spent the whole day getting the prank set up.

Remus and Sirius were the last one to enter the Great Hall that night. They sat next to James and Peter extremely happy. Remus spent dinner watching everyone in the Great Hall while he ate.

It was about half way through dinner when Remus saw that someone found a dung bomb in a bowl. He nodded his head at his friends. The dung bomb set off as soon as the girl found it, making the rest of the dung bombs explode, making food explode over everyone and stinking up the Great Hall.

Everyone was distracted by the dung bomb explosion giving Remus time to draw his wand out and use a spell to open the Great Hall doors. A swarm of acromantula came into the Great Hall, running all around the Great Hall, towards students and teachers.

The students all screamed at the sight of the giant spiders and jumped to their feet. They jumped on the table, hid under the table, or ran around the Great Hall to get away from the spiders. James and Peter stared at the spiders wide eyed. "I didn't expect you guys to get so many."

Peter jumped onto the table and rolled across it to get away from an acromantula trying to attack him. "Re…"

"Relax." Remus mouthed to him. "All part of the act."

James pulled Remus to the side as an acromantula lunged at him. "Are you sure?"

"Trust me. They won't really hurt anyone." Remus growled. "Just trust me on this."

The teachers stood up and pulled their wands out to fight the acromantulas.

Peter saw this and ducked under the table. He pulled his wand out and whispered a spell to turn the lights off. This caused the students to yell louder.

Sirius and James took this time to throw all the Fanged Frisbees around the Great Hall. When they threw them, the Frisbees attacked the students, making them scream in fear, which freaked out the students near them because they thought it was an acromantula attacking near them.

Remus smirked and hid under a table. He muttered a spell and started writing in the air with fire.

_Stop with the bloody screaming. You're giving me a headache._

The students and teachers stared at the writing in the air, some people still screamed because they were being bitten by the Fanged Frisbees.

_Stop screaming already._

Everyone stared at the message confused. Peter took this as his cue and turned the lights back on.

When the lights were back on, everyone saw little animals that wouldn't hurt them, instead of the acromantulas that were there before. And they saw the Fanged Frisbees that were attacking some students. Their friends helped get the Fanged Frisbees off of them.

Remus climbed out from under the table and sat down. He kept his wand hand hidden under the table.

_I hope we didn't scare you all too much._

Many of the students grumbled at this. The students who got bitten by the Fanged Frisbees glared at the message.

_We thought it was time to introduce ourselves to this lovely school._

"Who are you?" Dumbledore demanded, though Remus could see his eyes twinkling in amusement.

_That isn't any of your business._

"When you attack my students it is my business." Dumbledore said.

_Your students are alright. Just a few bites here and there._

_Have a wonderful Halloween Hogwarts!_

James and Sirius looked at Remus confused.

Remus smiled and shook his head.

Dinner ended soon after that. Many of the students wanted to get out of there after the "acromantula attack" and no one wanted to eat the food after the dungbombs exploded out of it.

Bilius and Shawn were talking in the Common Room after dinner.

"That was awesome. I wonder who did it." Shawn replied. He looked at James and his friends as they came it. "It wouldn't have been you four, would it?"

"What? The prank?" James asked, feigning confusion.

Bilius nodded his head. "Yeah. Did you guys do it?"

"No. That wasn't us." Remus replied.

"We would have made sure everyone knew it was us if we did it." Sirius added.

After hanging in the Common Room for a while, the four friends snuck up to their dorm. In their dorm, Sirius, James, and Peter turned to Remus.

"Why didn't you give our name?" Sirius demanded.

"I thought it would be fun to do a few pranks before giving our name. It would keep them in suspense longer. They'll want to know more and more about The Marauders. It will make you guys more famous if we keep them in suspense." Remus replied.

James and Sirius looked at each other and grinned. "Brilliant."

"Fine. We agree. But next time, we are going to vote before we do anything." Sirius said.

Remus shrugged. "Sorry. I thought of it just as we were finishing the prank."

"Next time, we think ahead." James grumbled as he flopped down onto his bed. "The Marauders next prank will be before we leave for Christmas. Any time between now and then will be done by us and not the Marauders, agreed?"

"Yeah." Sirius replied.

Remus rolled his eyes. "Can't you guys cut down on the pranks?"

"NO!" James and Sirius yelled.

Remus raised his hands in defense. "I was just asking. Sheesh!"

"Don't ask that again." James growled.

"Alright." Remus replied.

Sirius sat next to Remus on his bed. "So what was with the acromantulas attacking us to?"

Remus sighed. "I thought it would be so obvious you guys could figure it out. Guess I was wrong."

"Is he calling us stupid?" James asked.

"I think he is." Sirius growled.

Remus chuckled nervously. "Anyway, the acromantulas attacked us to because if they didn't and people saw they might suspect we were behind the prank."

"Oh. That makes sense." Sirius replied.

"So you gave the potion to bunnies and squirrels?" James asked.

Remus nodded his head. "We couldn't bring real acromantulas into the school. That would be too dangerous."

"Confusing." Peter grumbled. "That potion makes no sense. I know it changes their appearances, but how did you control get to them to attack the Great Hall."

Remus shrugged his shoulders. "A simple spell. It confused them and made them go crazy enough to run into the Great Hall and make it looked like they were attacking."

"Nice." James said.

Remus rubbed his eyes, tiredly. "I'm tired so I'm going to bed. Night guys." Remus pushed Sirius off his bed.

"Night Remy!" Sirius and James said.

"Night all." Peter said. He climbed into bed and fell asleep.

James and Sirius soon joined the two into going to sleep.

**A/N: Please review!**

**I refuse to write Quidditch matches. They are too annoying to write and no one actually cares what happens in them so why should I waste my time trying to write one.**

**The taste of potion is strange. Don't question it. I really should stop asking my brother questions to help me with things in this story.**


	8. Chapter 8: Pranks

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

**The Marauders Year 1**

**Chapter 8: Pranks**

A few weeks later Remus woke up early to take his minor infirmus potion for the month. He wrinkled his nose at the taste and put the empty vial back in the box. Quickly and quietly, Remus got dressed and grabbed his bag. He snuck out of the dorm and to the kitchen.

The house elves greeted him cheerfully and gave him all the food he wanted. He thanked them and after eating all the food, he went to the library and hid in a corner of the library to study and do his homework.

Today was the second Quidditch game of the year. It was Hufflepuff vs. Ravenclaw. Remus knew if he didn't sneak away early in the morning that his friends would force he to go to the game. They were still trying to get him to fall in love with the game. He couldn't take anymore of going to Gryffindor Quidditch team practice or the games. Why he allowed himself to become friends with Quidditch obsessed freaks he will never know.

Sirius woke up as he rolled out of bed onto the floor, pulling his blankets and curtains down off the bed with him. He started thrashing about in the covers and curtains, trying to get out of them. "JAMES! PETER! REMUS!" He yelled, stuck in the blankets.

Two thuds were heard as two more bodies hit the ground.

"What are you yelling about?" James growled.

"I need help." Sirius grumbled, embarrassed.

James sat up and looked at Sirius through squinted eyes, amused. "How did you get that tangled up?"

Sirius glared at him. "Just come help me."

Peter rolled out of his own blankets and came over to Sirius. He grabbed Sirius's blankets and pulled them into the air, flipping Sirius onto the ground. He threw the blanket on Sirius's head and went back to his bed and sat down."Did you guys notice that Remus isn't in here?"

Sirius pulled the blanket off his head and looked towards Remus's bed to see that it was empty. "I wonder where he is."

"Probably snuck off since today is Quidditch." James answered, putting his glasses on. "Come on. Let's go get breakfast then go find him."

The others agreed and after getting dressed went down to the Great Hall for breakfast. After eating a quick breakfast the three friends went to the library, thinking that that was the place Remus was most likely at.

When they got there, they all stopped outside the library. "I don't want to go in there again." Sirius growled. "Going in there once was enough for me."

"Me too." James said and turned to Peter. "Go get Remus."

Peter rolled his eyes and went into the library. Granted, he didn't like the library either and didn't want to go in there again, but if it was just to get Remus it would be fine. He just had to move fast and not look at the books. He only used books for homework and the rest of the time he avoided them.

It only took Peter a few minutes to find Remus hiding in a corner in the library. "Remus, James and Sirius want….."

"Not happening, Pete. I'm not leaving my safety zone." Remus replied.

Peter blinked and scratched his head. "Safety zone?"

"The only place I can get peace and quiet because James and Sirius are too scared to come in here. It's the only place I can get time alone." Remus explained, flipping through a book. "You can leave the library now and tell them that I'm not going to the game."

"No. I didn't come into this evil place just for you to tell me no." Peter growled. He grabbed Remus's arm and dragged him out of the library.

James and Sirius looked at the library doors to see Peter dragging an annoyed and mad looking Remus out of the library. Remus pulled his arm out of Peter's grip and went to stalk back into the library. Before he could go two steps, James and Sirius each grabbed one of his arms and dragged him away from the library.

"The library is a horrible place." James said.

"You must not spend your weekend in such a horrid place, Mr. Lupin." Sirius added.

James nodded his head seriously. "Yes, you must spend it on the Quidditch field. Hufflepuff vs. Ravenclaw."

Remus growled, but let himself be dragged to the Quidditch pitch. He decided he would get his revenge later before he had to leave for the full moon the next day. They would learn not to mess with him when he was in an irritable mood.

The four boys made it down to the Quidditch pitch and watched the game excited, at least three of them did, with the other Gryffindors. The game lasted a few hours before the Ravenclaw seeker caught the snitch, allowing Ravenclaw to win the game.

"That was amazing!" James said after the game.

"Did you see that dive?" Sirius exclaimed.

Remus started banging his head off a wall. James, Sirius, and Peter had been talking about the game since it ended. It was driving him crazy. He didn't understand what was so great about the game. To him it was just flying around on a broomstick throwing and hitting balls around.

By the time his three friends went to bed, Remus was sure he was close to insanity. Hearing nothing but Quidditch all day was going to drive him mad one day. He had to take a few minutes to get what was left of his sanity back before he could take his revenge

After taking a few minutes to calm himself from a whole day of nothing but Quidditch, Remus sat on his bed looking through his charm book for something that would help him with his revenge against his friends.

It took Remus half an hour to work out the perfect revenge prank against his friends. He waited another hour before he made his move to start working on the prank. He moved to each of his friends' bed and whispered a spell two times at each of them.

After he was finished with that, Remus climbed into his bed and went to sleep.

The next morning, Remus made sure he was the first one awake. After taking his minor infirmus potion, he took a shower, got dressed, and left the dorm in less than half an hour. All his friends were still asleep by the time he left the dorm. His prank wasn't finished yet. He still had one more step in his prank to complete, but he had to wait until his friends were in the Great Hall before he could do the last step.

"Morning Lily." Remus greeted his friend when he entered the Great Hall. He sat next to her and smiled pleasantly, hiding the fact that something was going to happen during breakfast.

"Good morning, Remus." Lily replied, smiling kindly at him. "You seem happy today. I was worried because you looked really mad yesterday."

Remus shrugged. "My friends are Quidditch obsessed. They were driving me insane with their Quidditch talk yesterday."

Lily nodded her head. "I see. You don't like Quidditch?"

"No. Not really." Remus replied. "My dad loves the game though. He takes me to games all the time. I always tell him I don't like the game, but he loves it and wants me to love it. He is just like my friends and the Gryffindor Quidditch team, trying to get me to love the game like that."

Lily laughed. "I don't understand it completely and I don't really like flying. I only go to the games when Gryffindor is playing."

"You're lucky you have a choice in the matter. My friends dragged me to the game yesterday." Remus replied.

"Poor you." Lily said, laughing.

The two friends stopped talking when everyone started laughing. They looked where the students were pointing and laughing at. Three boys stood at the entrance of the Great Hall with orange skin and green hair.

Lily covered her mouth to hide her green. "I wonder what happened to them." She looked at Remus suspiciously.

"What?" He asked innocently.

"You share a dorm with them and are the only one who's not orange and green." Lily said, raising a brow.

Remus smiled innocently.

"LUPIN!" Sirius yelled angrily, stomping over to Remus and Lily with James and Peter following him.

Remus smirked and pulled out his wand before Sirius could reach him. He pointed it at Sirius. "Decurro." He said the spell two more times, pointing his wand at James and Peter.

The three friends were standing in the middle alley, standing in the center of the Great Hall and started to sing.

_Oompa Loompa Doompadee Doo_

_I've got a perfect puzzle for you_

_Oompa Loompa Doompadee Dee_

_If you are wise you'll listen to me_

Lily started laughing at loud, really hard. All the muggle-borns and half-bloods, who knew the movie the song was from, were laughing really hard, while the pure-bloods were just laughing at the act.

_What do you get when you guzzle down sweets_

_Eating as much as an elephant eats_

_What are you getting terribly fat_

_What do you think will come of that_

_I don't like the look of it_

James, Sirius, and Peter were glaring at Remus, who was laughing at them.

The teachers were watching shocked, except Dumbledore, who was watching the act amused. His eyes were twinkling in amusement.

_Oompa Loompa Doompadee Dah_

_If you're not greedy you will go far_

_You will live in happiness too_

_Like the Oompa Loompa Doompadee Do_

_Doompadee Doo_

When the song was finished, the whole hall was laughing, except the teachers who were still shocked at what happen, again of course only Dumbledore wasn't shock. He started clapping and so did the rest of the hall, even though they were still laughing really hard, especially the Slytherins, who thought of this as nice revenge, even though they weren't the ones who did it.

"That was very nicely done, Mr. Black, Potter, Pettigrew." Dumbledore said, standing up.

James, Sirius, and Peter grumbled angrily to themselves and glared at Remus, who grinned at them.

"Thank you sir." Sirius growled.

Remus saw the dangerous glints in his friends' eyes. "Well, Ms. Evans, I think this is where I get the hell out of here. I will see you later."

Remus stood up and ran out of the Great Hall with three angry first years following him.

"GET BACK HERE, LUPIN!" James screamed.

Professor McGonagall stood up and watched the four boys run out of the Great Hall. "Should I do something, sir?"

Dumbledore chuckled. "No, no. Let them have their fun. It was a harmless joke. I just hope Mr. Lupin remembers what today is."

Remus ran out of the castle and down to the lake. His three best mates chasing after him.

"LUPIN, JUST YOU WAIT UNTIL WE CATCH YOU!" Sirius screamed.

Remus laughed and continued to run away from his friends. Doing that prank took his irritably of the full moon being tonight away. "YOU WON'T CATCH ME!"

James, Sirius, and Peter chased after Remus for a few hours before all four boys started to get really tired from all the running. Remus was breathing hard and looked behind him to see his friends still chasing him.

"Don't they ever give up." Remus grumbled to himself. He turned towards the castle to go back inside to escape them.

Remus ran inside and up a bunch of flights of stairs until he reached the portrait of the fat lady. "Wolfsbane. Wolfsbane. Wolfsbane." He said hurriedly, looking around for his friends.

The portrait opened up and the fat lady started to grumble about kids being in a hurry these days and about them being rude. Remus ignored her and ran inside. He collapsed on the floor in front of the fireplace, breathing heavily.

Bilius looked at him and laughed. "They didn't catch you?"\

Remus laughed and shook his head.

Shawn came over and sat down on the couch. "That was a brilliant prank, but aren't you suppose to prank people who aren't you friends?"

"Those three made me mad yesterday. It's a revenge prank." Remus replied just as the portrait swung open and three angry oompa loompas, a.k.a first years, came into the common room.

They stomped over to Remus. Without a word to anyone, James and Sirius each grabbed one of his arms and dragged him up to their dorm. In their dorm, James and Sirius dropped Remus on the ground and the three orange boys glared at the laughing boy.

"Remus." Sirius growled, only to be ignored.

"Remus." James screamed, only to be ignored as well.

James eye started twitching. "REMUS JOHN LUPIN!"

People in the common room jumped in surprise at the yelling and looked towards the dorms. "I hope they don't kill Remus." Angel said.

Shawn laughed. "Don't worry, Angel. They won't kill a friend."

Remus stopped laughing and looked at his friends. "Yes?" He asked, trying to stop the grin on his face.

"Fix this?" Sirius growled, gesturing to the orange skin and green hair.

Remus stood up and smiled. "Sorry, but the color will last, oh let's say, a week."

While his friends were processing that news, Remus took the time to run out of the dorm. He just reached the common room when he heard their reactions.

"LUPIN!" James, Sirius, and Peter yelled and they came racing down the stairs.

Remus smirked and was about to race out of the common room when he saw Darkwing outside the window. He stopped walking and allowed himself be tackled to the ground by an angry James.

Remus grinned at him. "You finally caught me. Now, what are you going to do about it?"

James frowned and looked at Sirius and Peter. "What are we going to do?"

Sirius thought for a moment. "I don't know. I never really thought about it."

Remus rolled his eyes, but smiled. "Angel, can you let Darkwing in here for me?"

"Sure." Angel replied. She moved to the window and let the owl in.

Darkwing hooted her thanks. She flew over to Remus and landed next to him.

"James, get off me." Remus said. "I have a letter."

"Why don't your letters come at normal times?" James asked, as he rolled off of Remus.

Remus sat up and took the letter. "Because normal is boring."

Sirius nodded his head. "He's got a point, Jamesie."

James rolled his eyes.

Remus read his letter and frowned. "I have to go guys."

James looked at his friend worried. "Why?"

"Do you remember last month when I told you about my Aunt Margie and how she is deathly ill?" Remus asked, gripping the letter tightly.

James paled. "She died, didn't she?"

Remus nodded his head, slowly.

James hugged Remus. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Remus said, silently. "Not like it's your fault."

Remus stood up and went back up to his dorm. Darkwing hooted sadly and left the tower. James, Sirius, and Peter followed Remus back up to the dorm to see Remus packing some clothes. "I'll be back in a few days. I have to go to her funeral."

Sirius clapped a hand on Remus's shoulder supportively. "It'll be alright, Rem."

Remus nodded his head. He bit his lip and made himself think of something really sad to make himself cry. He let the tears fall out of his eyes. His shoulders shook from the crying.

James smiled sadly and kneeled next to Remus. He threw his arm over Remus's shoulders in a half hug. "Mate?"

"Sorry." Remus muttered.

"Don't be. It's alright to cry. Your aunt died." James said quietly.

Remus nodded his head and stood up. "I'll see you in a few days."

"We'll be here when you come back." Peter said, hugging Remus.

Remus hugged him, then hugged Sirius before leaving the dorm. When he closed the door, Remus wiped his eyes free of the tears. He sighed and left the tower when he ran into Lily, who was coming back from the library.

"Remus, have you been crying?" Lily asked, shock.

"I just got a letter from my dad. My Aunt Margie died. I have to go home." Remus answered.

"Oh." Lily hugged Remus tightly. "I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"

Remus gulped. "I…I w-will b-be."

Lily nodded her head. "I'll be here when you get back."

"Thanks Lils."

Remus smiled sadly at her and watched her enter the tower before heading to the Hospital Wing. "Madam Pomfrey."

Madam Pomfrey looked up and smiled at him. "Good to see you're still alive." At Remus confused look, she continued. "I saw your friends chasing today. They looked ready to kill you."

Remus laughed. "No. I think that was an act. I think they were amused by it. I think they were planning to get revenge against me, but now that my Aunt Margie died they might think better of it."

"Is that why your face is tear strained? Fake crying?" Madam Pomfrey asked, as she handed the cloak to Remus.

"Yeah." Remus replied as he threw his bag into the private room and put the cloak on.

Madam Pomfrey nodded her head and led Remus out of the castle. She said her good-byes to Remus and smiled reassuring at him.

Remus smiled sadly back and climbed into the tunnel. He was a few hours early, but it seemed like a good idea to leave early this time. He didn't get to eat lunch or dinner today, but it didn't matter to Remus. Even with the minor infirmus potion, Remus still felt queasy. Not queasy enough that he couldn't eat, but still queasy enough that he didn't really enjoy eating during the time of the full moon. He only did it to keep James, Sirius, and Peter off his back.

The next few hours were spent by Remus sleeping. He was always really tried around the full moon. He woke up in pain as the full moon came out a few hours later.

The next thing Remus knew after the painful transformation was waking up in his private room in the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey was standing over him and healing his wounds, somewhat. "Morning dear. Your transformation was worse this time."

"Sure feels like it was." Remus mumbled.

Madam Pomfrey smiled kindly at him and gave him a goblet. "This will help with the pain."

Remus drank the potion and scrunched up his face at the taste. "Tastes horrible."

"It's not meant to taste good. It's meant to help you." Madam Pomfrey replied. She took the goblet back and put it on the nightstand. "The teachers and I have decided you will return to school on Thursday. That seems like enough time for a funeral and staying with your parents afterwards to help each other with the pain. What do you think?"

Remus groaned. "I think I hate these excuses. I'm missing a lot of school."

Madam Pomfrey smiled sadly and placed a comforting hand on Remus's shoulder. "You're smart. You'll catch up and I'm sure your friends will help you a lot. Now get some rest."

"Yes ma'am." Remus replied groggily.

Thursday morning, Remus made his way sleepily to the Great Hall. He walked half-asleep down the table to his friends. He sat across from Sirius. "Hi guys."

"Morning." Peter greeted.

"Welcome back." James said.

Sirius just nodded his head since his mouth was full of food.

Remus looked at each of his friends and laughed. "I see you haven't found a solution to your color problems. Though it does look like the colors are fading."

The three boys glared at Remus.

"Is there a solution to this?" James asked.

Remus smiled. "Of course. You just got to look for it. If you don't look for it, then the color fades in a week."

"You could have told us that before we left." Peter whined. "People have been mocking us all week and singing that song to us that we sang before you left."

Sirius leaned in closer to Remus's face. "The Slytherins have especially been laughing at us. I don't like that. We are suppose to be embarrassing the Slytherins, not the other way around."

"Then do a prank against them." Remus replied, pushing Sirius out of his face.

"We will. As soon as you fix us." James growled.

"Fine. There's a potion you can do." Remus said. "I don't have time to do it because I have three days of work to catch up on." He pulled his potion book out of his bag and flipped to the right page. He showed the potion to his friends. "You can do it tonight while I'm at the library."

"What are you going to the library for?" Sirius asked.

Remus looked at him like he was an idiot. "I have three days of work and today's work to get done."

Peter smiled. "I have notes for you. Apparently it was my turn to take notes for you."

"You just love leaving school, Remus. Wish I could miss as much school as you do." Sirius added.

James shrugged his shoulders. "It's not like he'll miss any more school, right Remus?"

Remus paled and looked down at his plate. "I-I h-hope not."

Sirius looked at Remus suspiciously, but didn't comment. He looked at James, who looked just as suspicious. Peter just looked oblivious to it all.

"You probably won't. What are the chances that someone will have to go home that much in one year?" Peter said.

Remus didn't reply. He just kept looking at his plate.

It wasn't until it was time to get to class that he looked up. James had grabbed his arm and was dragging him out of the Great Hall. "Time for class, unless you want to get a detention?" James said.

"Oh." Remus whispered, pulling his arm free.

Remus had to spend the whole weekend in the library to catch up on all his work. Lily helped him a little on Thursday and Friday, but Remus ordered her to leave him alone on the weekend. He didn't want her have to spend the whole weekend in the library. She deserved time to relax so Remus made her leave him alone while he worked.

The young werewolf even fell asleep in the library Saturday night and never made it back to the his dorm. Madam Pince, the strict librarian found the sleeping boy in the corner of the library at a table with books surrounding him. As strict as she was, Madam Pince didn't have the heart to wake him up and tell him that it was past curfew. She, like all the teachers, knew about his lycanthropy and knew that he missed three days of school. He spent the last few days in the library all day after classes. Madam Pince sighed and left Remus to sleep. She locked up the library and went to her room.

Remus woke up the next day surprised to find himself still in the library. Shrugging, Remus went back to the mountain of homework he still had to do. He spent the whole day in the library working on his homework. Lily came in at lunch time to help him, but Remus shooed her away saying that only one of them should have to spend their weekend like this. She protested, but Remus insisted that she go enjoy her weekend for the both of them.

"Hey Evans!" James called to Lily after dinner.

Lily looked up from her book and glared at him. "What?"

"Is Remus still in the library?" James asked.

"Yeah." Lily replied. "Did you see him at any meals today or yesterday?"

James shook his head. "That stupid prat is starving himself."

"Want to go find him and take him to the kitchen? He needs to eat." Sirius said.

"Yes, let's. Then after we're sure he's okay after a whole weekend of starvation and studying, I'm going to yell at him for being an idiot." James growled. He led Sirius and Peter out of the Common Room and to library.

Lily smiled and went back to her book. She may not like Potter, Black, or Pettigrew, but she thought they understood the meaning of friendship and cared a lot for each other.

James glared at the library doors. "I hate libraries. I can't believe we have to go in there."

Sirius took a deep breath. "Come on. Let's get this over with."

"You make it sound like we are going to die." Peter said.

Sirius turned to glare at him. "This is a library. It will one day kill us."

Peter rolled his eyes. "Sure it will."

James grabbed Peter's and Sirius's arms and dragged them into the library. "We have to get Remus now."

James marched over to the corner of the library where Remus always worked. He saw Remus engrossed in a book and writing something down on the parchment next to his paper every few minutes. James slammed his hand on the table to get his friend's attention.

Remus jumped in shock and dropped his quill. He looked at his friends surprised. "What are you guys doing in here? You never come to the library unless you really have to."

"What are we doing here?" James growled, making Remus flinch.

"You've been in this library since yesterday. You haven't come to any meals. You're starving yourself." Sirius snarled.

Remus twisted his hands together. "I'm not starving myself. I just have a lot of homework I need to get done. I have two more essays and questions to answer for Transfiguration. I don't have time to eat."

Sirius hit Remus in the back of his head. "You need to eat. You'll pass out if you don't eat."

Remus rubbed his head. "Ow."

James started packing all of Remus's books, parchments, quill, and ink bottle into his bag.

"What are you doing, James?" Remus snarled, grabbing his bag from James.

James grabbed the bag back and continued putting stuff back in it. "No more. You need a break, Remy."

"I'm fine." Remus snapped, making to grab his bag, but Sirius stepped in and grabbed his wrist.

"No Remy. You don't need to get it all done right now. The professors will understand if you don't turn in all your work tomorrow. You need to stop. You've been working ever since you came back. Come on. You need to eat." Sirius said, pulling Remus out of the library with James and Peter following.

They took Remus to the kitchen and told the house elves to bring him a lot of food. Remus was forced to stay in the kitchen until he ate all the food that the house elves brought him.

"There, I ate. Can I go back to the library now?" Remus asked.

James raised a brow. "Do you think we dragged you out of the library just so you can eat and go back to the library? No, we didn't. You are resting for the rest of the night. You can finish your work tomorrow."

"But…" Remus started.

"No buts." Sirius snapped.

"Time to rest." James declared, dragging Remus out of the kitchen and back to their dorm.

A few days later, Remus was laying on his beds, flipping through Hogwarts A History while his friends were talking about how to get revenge against the Slytherins for laughing and mocking James, Sirius, and Peter for the prank that Remus pulled on them. He sat up on his bed when he read one part of the book.

"Hey guys, did you know that if boys try to get into the girls' dorm that stairs turn into slides?" Remus asked.

"We don't care, Remy." Sirius said. "But it is good to know that we can't get up there. Now we won't embarrass ourselves."

Remus rolled his eyes. "That's the point. Apparently guys can't be trusted so they made the stairs do that. But that's not my point in mentioning this."

"Then get to the point." James said.

"You want revenge against the Slytherins, right?" Remus asked.

James grinned. "I think I know where you're going with this."

It took them a week to find the spell and to master it.

The next morning after the four friends mastered the spell, they skipped breakfast and split up around the school. They went their own way and put the spell on every few staircases. Not all of them. That would be no fun. If they put them on every few staircases then the Slytherins won't know which ones are booby trapped for them.

When they were done, the four boys went to the Great Hall to get some breakfast before it ended. After breakfast they left with the other students and watched the Slytherins try to climb the stairs. All the Slytherins on the stairs only got up a few steps before they turned into a slide and the Slytherins fell down them.

"It worked." James said, grinning.

"Yeah. Now let's get to class." Remus replied, pulling James up the steps.

When everyone saw the marauders climb the stairs, they started climbing them as well. The Slytherins tried climbing them again, only for them to turn into slides again.

After that, everyone figured out that the stairs only turned into slides for the Slytherins and they laughed at them, before heading off to class.

Eventually, the professors figured out what was happening with the stairs and why all the Slytherins weren't in class. McGonagall cast the counter-curse on the stairs in the Entrance Hall, thinking those stairs were the only ones with the charm on them.

Dumbledore announced what was going on at dinner time to the students, who wanted to know what was going on with the stairs. "It seems that someone has cast a Glisseo Charm on the staircases so the Slytherin students couldn't climb them. If anyone knows who did this please tell me or any of the other professors." At this, Dumbledore looked at James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter, while McGonagall glared at them.

Sirius laughed. "Why are you looking at us?"

"You four already have a record and you would do something like this." Dumbledore said, amused.

"We don't even know what the…Glisseo(?) Charm is." James said.

Bilius smiled. "It's a third year charm anyway, Professor. Do you really expect these four to be able to do it?"

"It wouldn't surprise me, Mr. Weasley. These four would spend their time learning extra spells just to pull a prank." Dumbledore replied.

"Well, we would, sir. But unfortunately, we aren't the ones who pulled this prank." Remus said, glad that he was getting a little bit better at lying, but lying to the Headmaster wasn't something he really enjoyed doing.

Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling. "If you say so, Mr. Lupin."

Soon after, the students left the Great Hall and went back to whatever they do.

"Liar." James yelled, pointing at Remus as soon as they were in their dorm.

"Hmm?" Remus replied.

"You used your honest, respectable student status to get Dumbledore to believe you." Sirius explained. "He acted like he didn't believe us and then you jump in and he believes you."

"Well, I have a better record than you two." Remus said. "So, of course, he'll believe me over you two."

James rolled his eyes. "Right. But we could do with the detentions for our contest."

Remus sighed. "You guys are still doing that competition?"

"Yes, and so are you." Sirius replied.

Remus groaned.

**A/N: Please review!**

**Again, I'm not writing Quidditch games. I'm going to say this in every single chapter that there is a Quidditch game.**

**Any spells or potions in my stories that aren't real spells in the harry potter world are what the spell does in a foreign language, most likely Latin.**

**I will admit this. I always found the oompa loompas creepy. So I have no idea why I used them as a prank.**

**Okay, so not much happened in this chapter. I think I should explain something. I'm going to do dedicate at least one chapter to each month, except maybe July and August since that is summer. But anyway, some months may have more than one chapter. It depends on how much happens in that month. Like December has a full moon and Christmas, so it might have 2 or 3 chapters. Just so you know.**


	9. Chapter 9: Hogsmeade

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

**The Marauders Year 1**

**Chapter 9: Hogsmeade**

James grabbed the invisibility cloak and stuffed it into his bag before leaving the dorm. He went downstairs and found Sirius talking with a second year girl, who was blushing fiercely. Sighing, James went over to the two. "We're eleven." He said in Sirius's ear.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Hi James. This is Liza. She's a second year."

"Yeah, hi Liza. Sorry, I can't stay and chat, but Sirius and I have somewhere to be." James said. He grabbed Sirius's arm and dragged him away from Liza.

"What are we doing?" Sirius asked, as soon as they were out of hearing range.

James ignored is question and looked around the common room for Peter and Remus. "Where are Pete and Remy? We can't go until we find them."

"Peter went to the kitchen and you should already know where Remus is." Sirius replied.

James nodded his head. "Good point. Let's go."

Just as the two boys stepped out of the tower, Peter was returning. He looked at his friends and smiled. "What are you two doing?"

"Don't know yet. Jamesie here has a plan, but he won't tell me until all four of us are together. So, we have to go find Remus. And I can tell from James's smirk here, that whatever it is we are going to do, Remus won't agree to." Sirius said, looking at James and smirking to. "This is going to be a lot of fun, right?"

James turned in the direction of the library. "I'll say this. If we're caught, we're going to be in a lot of trouble. So Pete, I'll give you a choice. You don't have to join us on this adventure if you don't want to. You already have the mischievous spirit so I will give you a choice when we do things. It's Remus who needs our help, right Siri?"

Sirius nodded his head. "Of course. Why he insists on spending his Saturdays in that wretched place, I will never know."

"I'll come with you. Mostly, because I'm curious about what we are going to do." Peter replied, shaking his head and laughing. "Though, I still feel sorry for Remus."

"Why do you feel sorry for him?" Sirius asked, confused. "Is it because of his disease?"

It was Peter's turn to look confused. "Disease? What disease?"

Sirius frowned. "The Library Disease, of course."

Peter blinked. "What?"

James flung an arm around Peter's shoulders. "How could you not know of it? You have a mate who has the disease."

"The Library Disease is extremely rare. Very few people get it. You get the disease when you spend every moment of your life reading and doing homework. People who have it practical live in the library. They even read for fun. It's disgusting. It's mostly Ravenclaws who get it." Sirius said, dramatically.

"Remus is leaving us for the Ravenclaws?" Peter asked, carefully.

Sirius's eyes widened. "NOOO! He can't leave us for the Ravenclaws! We must save him."

James nodded his head and looked at Peter seriously. "Exactly. That is why we are going to the library to get Remus. We must cure him of this evil, vile disease. We must save Remus from this horrendous disease. The disease messes with his mind and makes him act like he doesn't want to do any fun or break any rules, when he actually does. The Library Disease is trying to take over his mind."

"You get the disease when you start reading a lot and when you read just for fun." Sirius said. "And we've all seen that Remus does read for fun. How dare those Ravenclaws try to steal our friend?"

Peter rolled his eyes at James and Sirius. His two friends were such idiots at times. He sometimes wonders why he hangs out with them, then he sees Remus and remembers that if he didn't hang with them Remus would go insane. He had to protect his friend from going insane from hanging with Sirius and James.

James and Sirius looked at the library doors nervously. They never liked going in there. Now that Peter looked at their nervousness about entering the library, he might think that they actually believe the Library Disease exists. He wouldn't put it past them for believing that the disease exists.

Taking deep breathes, James and Sirius enter the library carefully. They peaked around the open doors to make sure it was safe before going any further into the library. Peter sighed and followed them carelessly into the library, making James and Sirius glare at him, so Peter joined in the careful journey through the library.

The three boys dived under an empty table as soon as they made it into the library. James and Sirius looked around for the table Remus was at. Peter just frowned and felt like an idiot for doing this. He wanted out of this library to end this embarrassment.

"Guys, doesn't Remus always sit in the table in the corner?" Peter asked.

"That he does, Pete." James answered. "We must get to that table."

Sirius started to crawl out from under the table. He crawled to the next table that was full of third year Ravenclaws. James followed him, grinning slightly, and Peter followed frowning. The third years at the table glared at the three boys angrily as they bumped into their legs.

"What the bloody hell are you three doing?" One of the boys snapped.

"Shhh!" James shushed him and continued crawling.

The boy glared at them as they moved to the next table. "Stupid first years." He grumbled to himself.

Sirius led his two friends under all the tables leading to the back corner of the library. When they finally made it to the corner of the library where Remus was, they found him surrounded by a mountain of books. He was engrossed in a book so he didn't notice his friends or the students, who were glaring at his friends.

James grinned at the glaring students and waved at them.

"Remy." Sirius whispered in Remus's ear.

Remus looked at Sirius and glared. "What are you guys doing in here?"

"We're here to cure you of your Library Disease and save you from the Ravenclaws." James said.

Remus looked at his friends like they were insane. "What are you talking about?"

"There's no time to waste!" Sirius exclaimed. He grabbed Remus's arm and pulled him out of his chair. "We must go now."

Remus blinked again and pulled his arm free. "Whatever you three are planning, I want no part in it."

"What did we tell you, Pete?" James said. "He does have Library Disease!"

Remus looked at his friends like they were crazy. He shook his head and sat back down to start reading again. He only read five words before the book was snapped shut and he was pulled out of his chair again. James and Sirius had each grabbed one of his arms and were dragging him out of the library.

"James, Sirius, let go of me." Remus growled.

"No. You'll go back to the library if we let go of you." James said, tightening his grip on Remus's arm.

Sirius tightened his grip to. "We apparently have an adventure to go on, according to James that is."

James led his friends back to Gryffindor tower. "Forgot one thing. We need our cloaks. Our adventure goes outside."

Remus eyes widened and he started to try to pull free. "You guys are going to do something stupid that could get us in a lot trouble, aren't you?"

"It isn't stupid really. Just something that can get us into a lot of trouble if we're caught." James explained, as he dug through his chest. "Guys, grab some money. We're going to need it."

Remus looked at James suspiciously, but grabbed some money out of his trunk. Sirius and Peter did as well.

"Remy, you're going to really enjoy this." James said.

"Can't you just tell us what we're going to do?" Peter asked.

Sirius smirked. "I think I know what we're going to do if we have to take money with us."

Remus blinked and thought for a moment, before frowning. "No. No. No. First years aren't allowed to go there. And it's not even a Hogsmeade weekend. What if people down there see us? They'll tell the school."

"We're going to Hogsmeade?" Peter said, excited.

"Yes, and Remy no one is going to turn us in. They will want our business. They're not going to turn away business." James explained, then smirked. "And we can go to Honeydukes. You can get all the chocolate you want there."

Remus eyes lit up at the thought of chocolate. "All the chocolate I want? Let's go now!" Remus grabbed James arm and started dragging him out of the dorm.

James laughed. Sirius and Peter smiled and followed them.

When the four boys left the tower, James pulled out the invisibility cloak and threw it over them. They walked to the mirror on the fourth floor and entered the hidden passage behind the mirror. After getting into the passage, James pulled the cloak off of them and put it back in their bag.

"Onward to Zonko's!" James declared and marched off down the passage with his wand lit and held in front of him.

Remus rolled his eyes and followed him.

The four boys snuck out of the cellar of Zonko's and snuck into the shop. James's and Sirius's eyes lit up in excitement at all the sight of all the pranking supplies in the store. They ran around the store and looked at some of the stuff. Remus and Peter smiled and looked around as well.

The owner of the store looked at the four of them. They were the only ones in the store. He looked to be in his early twenties. His hair was dark brown and his eyes were bright green. He smirked. "You look a little young to be allowed to come to Hogsmeade and it's not even a Hogsmeade weekend. I'm going to take a wild guess and say you are the four who take the supplies from the basement and leave money there."

The boys stopped what they were doing and looked at the owner worried.

"Don't worry, lads. You always paid for the supplies and that school needs some chaos." The mad said, laughing. "My name is Mira Ceti. I was a prankster when I went to Hogwarts to. Of course I didn't know about the secret passage in the cellar of this place until I brought it from the last owner."

"So you don't mind that we took supplies?" James asked.

Mira shook his head. "Naw. I must give you four credit though. I would never have had the guts to sneak out of the school and take supplies from a store. You four give me a lot of business. Though, I will tell you this. I did find a secret passage in the school. I never used it because I didn't want to leave school grounds without permission."

"Really?" Sirius asked, excited.

"Where is it?" James asked, just as excited.

Mira smirked. "I guess I should pass on the secret. It's the only secret passage I know about."

"Did you ever find the kitchen?" Remus interrupted.

"No. I don't think anyone has ever found it. Why?" Mira asked.

James smirked. "We must be the only ones who ever found it."

"You four found the kitchen?" Mira said, impressed.

"Well, Remus found it, but we all know where it is." Sirius explained. "Tell us about this secret passage and where it goes."

Mira laughed. "Okay. On the third floor, next to Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, is a statue of a one-eyed witch. Tap the hump of the witch with your wand and say _Dissendium_. The hump will open up to a secret passage that leads to the cellar of Honeydukes."

"Honeydukes!" Remus exclaimed, happily.

"I take it you like candy." Mira said.

"He's a chocolate addict." James explained. "Thanks for the info."

Mira nodded his head. "No problem, but remember. The passage is a secret. Don't tell anyone."

"Yes sir!" James and Sirius mocked salute.

Mira smiled. "Good. If you need prank supplies, please come during the day when the store is open is you can. If you can't, then leave the money in the cellar. But I would prefer if you come during store hours."

"We'll try." James replied.

"Guys, I think I'm going to go explore by myself. Let's meet at the Three Broomsticks in about two hours." Remus said. Without waiting for a reply, Remus left the store. He wanted to be left alone so he could get the Christmas shopping for his friends and parents done with now. He never really liked shopping much.

Everyone that Remus spoke to asked him about being too young to be in Hogsmeade, but James was right. None of them really cared. They wanted the business from him. Remus went back to Zonko's after an hour to make sure his friends were gone so he could go in there and shop for them.

An hour later, Remus was sitting in The Three Broomsticks at the bar counter waiting for his friends. The bartender's name was Madam Rosmerta and she is really nice. She spoke to him while he was waiting for his friends and laughed at learning that they snuck out of the school.

"Hi Remy!" Sirius greeted and sat next to him, before turning to the bartender. "Hello Ms."

"Madam Rosmerta at your service." Rosmerta replied.

"Sirius Black. Can we get three more butterbeers? Thanks." Sirius said.

James and Peter sat down to. "I'm James Potter and this is Peter Pettigrew."

"Hello boys. Remus was just telling me that you four snuck out of school." Rosmerta said.

James grinned. "Yep. We're little troublemakers."

The three boys accepted their butterbeers and started drinking them happily. "I love butterbeer." Sirius declared.

James rolled his eyes and turned back to Madam Rosmerta. "Do you know anything about the Shrieking Shack? I heard older students talking about it when they came back from Hogsmeade in October. I didn't pay a lot of attention to them though."

"The Shrieking Shack?" Remus questioned, confused.

"The Shrieking Shack is an abandoned house on the edge of Hogsmeade. It was built during the summer before the school year started. A family moved into there. They had two kids. Their oldest one was going to start Hogwarts this year. No one knows what happened to them though. One day during the summer, they just disappeared. The house was boarded up and there is no way into the house. People think that they were killed." Madam Rosmerta said.

"Why is it called the Shrieking Shack then?" Remus asked.

"The building is haunted. There are screams coming from inside it. Which makes us think that the family was killed in there and now they haunt the house. We think they were killed on the day of the full moon." Madam Rosmerta explained.

James put down his mug and leaned in fascinated. "Why do you think that?"

Madam Rosmerta smiled. "The screams only happen on the night of the full moon. It likes the family is replaying the night they were killed every month on the full moon."

Remus dropped his mug on the ground and stared at Madam Rosmerta shocked.

"Is something wrong, dear?" Madam Rosmerta asked, worried.

Remus slowly shook his head. "N-no."

"You sure, mate?" James asked, worried.

"Y-yeah." Remus stuttered out.

James, Sirius, and Peter looked at Remus suspiciously, but made no comment.

"Thanks for the butterbeer and story, Madam Rosmerta." Sirius said ten minutes later. The other three said their good-byes and left the Three Broomsticks.

"Where do you guys want to go next? Unless Remus wants to go off on his own again." James said.

Remus rolled his eyes.

James smiled. "Good. So since we're going to stay together this time, where shall we go?"

"I say Honeydukes." Peter replied.

"I agree." Sirius said.

"To Honeydukes then!" James declared.

Remus looked around the store excited. He came earlier to buy some candy for his friends, but didn't have time to get anything for himself. "So much chocolate!"

Later that day, the four boys went back to Zonko's and greeted Mira.

"Hey Mira." Remus said, waving at him.

"Hello boys. Have a good day at Hogsmeade?" Mira greeted.

The boys grinned at him. "It was awesome. But we have to get back to the castle for dinner."

"How are you going to get all your bags passed all the students and teachers?" Mira asked, eyeing all the bags the boys had.

"We have our ways." James said, mysteriously.

Mira looked like he wanted to know what James meant, but didn't ask. He just nodded at the cellar door, telling the boys they could go downstairs. After thanking him, the boys went downstairs and entered the hidden passage.

When they got to the end of the passageway, James pulled at the invisibility cloak, but had paused before throwing it over them. "One of us has to open the portrait. Who wants to do it?" James asked.

"I will." Sirius said, handing his bags to the Peter and Remus to carry.

After throwing the cloak over Remus, Peter, and himself, James told Sirius to go ahead and leave. Sirius left the passage and walked slowly so his friends could keep up with him. He past a few older students and a teacher on his way to the Gryffindor Tower.

Sirius stopped in front of the Fat Lady Portrait. "You guys here?"

"Yeah, open the portrait." James whispered.

"Wolfsbane." Sirius said.

The Portrait swung forward and Sirius stepped aside so his friends could get in first. After they were in, Sirius entered the tower and went up to his dorm. His friends pulled the cloak off themselves and put their bags down.

Remus unlocked his trunk and put his bags and the money he had left in his trunk. After relocking his trunk, Remus turned to his friends, who were putting their stuff away. "We should get going to dinner. People might be suspicious since they didn't see us at lunch and the fact that you guys didn't cause any chaos today."

"We'll just make up an excuse of where we were." James said.

"Can't wait to see what you come up with." Remus replied.

The four boys went down to the Great Hall and sat down at the Gryffindor table. They started eating dinner and didn't even notice the suspicious looks sent towards them until Remus put his fork down and looked around the hall.

Remus sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Guys."

James and Sirius stopped their conversation about Quidditch and Peter put his fork down to look at Remus. "What is it, Remus?" James asked.

"Everyone is looking at us suspiciously. They think we are plotting something." Remus explained. He looked up at the Head Table to see McGonagall looking at them suspiciously too. "Even the teachers think we're going to do something just because we disappeared for the whole day."

James and Sirius smirked and looked at Remus. "Maybe we should prove them right."

Remus groaned. "Nothing I say will stop you?"

"Nope." James replied.

"What are you going to do?" Remus asked.

James leaned in closer to Remus so he was right in front of his face and smirked. "If you want to know what we're going to do, then follow us."

With that said, James and Sirius stood up and left the Great Hall. Remus glanced at Peter before shrugging and following them. Peter grabbed an apple off the table before following them to. Everyone watched them leave suspicious of their actions.

"What are we doing?" Remus asked as soon as they were out of the Great Hall.

"Well, I was thinking of going to the kitchen to get some dinner before going back to our dorm and playing a game of Exploding Snap. I don't know what you guys are going to do." James replied, running a hand through his messy hair, making it messier.

Remus stopped and blinked. He looked at James and Sirius confused. "I thought you guys were going to play a prank on everyone for being suspicious of you guys."

"Naw. I'm too tired to pull a prank today so we just going to fake them out." James explained.

"Fake them out?" Peter questioned.

"We're left the Great Hall in a hurry. To the teachers and students it looked like we were going to go set up for a prank. When in truth, we aren't going to do anything. So, we're going to fake them out." Sirius explained.

By the time dinner was over, the students were starting to get twitchy. They were all waiting for the prank that the four marauders were going to pull. The wait for it was getting them nervous and a little paranoid about how bad the prank was going to be.

The teachers were having it just as bad. They were expecting a prank all day. The four biggest troublemakers disappear for the whole day and don't reappear until dinner time. Four students don't disappear on a Saturday for the whole day and not be planning anything, especially when those four students are James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter.

The Gryffindors entered their tower to find Remus, Peter, Sirius, and James engrossed in a game of Exploding Snap.

Bilius stalked over to them and grabbed the cards out of their hands and threw them on the pile in the circle, making them all explode.

The boys started coughing from the smoke of the explosion. After the smoke cleared, the four first years looked at Bilius annoyed. "What?" James snapped.

"You four have everyone paranoid. They all think you're going to pull some amazing prank. But we've yet to see a great prank and now everyone is worried." Bilius explained, crossing his arms. "I was hoping for an amazing prank. You four promised me an amazing last year. So far you're doing great, but I was hoping for something amazing today."

James laughed. "We weren't planning a prank for today. We faked you guys out."

Bilius smiled. "That's not nice. You freaked everyone out , even the teachers. You especially scared them when you ran out of the Great Hall during dinner."

"All part of the fun." Sirius explained.

"So, where were you four? It had to have been pretty boring hanging there all day just for some fake out prank." Bilius asked.

Remus snorted. "Like we're going to reveal our secrets."

Bilius rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

When Bilius walked away, Remus turned to his friends, excited. "I just remembered something. James, do you still have The Marauders Rules."

James nodded his head. "Yeah, why?"

"Let's talk in our dorm." Remus replied, looking around the common room. "Too many people down here."

The four boys went up to their dorm and sat on their beds. "James, give me the book."

James tossed the Marauders Rule book to Remus, who caught it. He pulled out his wand and looked at his friends. "I have a spell that will make the ink disappear. To bring the ink back we need a password. What do you guys want to use as the password?"

"Uh….." James said, looking at Sirius and Peter. "I don't have a clue."

Sirius shrugged his shoulders. "Don't look at me. I don't know either."

"Marauders Forever." Peter suggested, weakly and shyly. He looked at the floor, thinking the idea was dumb and that he should have kept his mouth shut. "Sorry, dumb idea."

"No. I kind of like it. We are Marauders Forever." James said.

"Remember when we were in the library the day we were working on our first prank?" Remus said. "Sirius said we wouldn't have any secrets between us."

James nodded his head. "Yeah. Do you have a secret to us, Remus?"

Remus paled and shook his head violently. "No!" He looked down at the book in his hands for a minute. "We tell each other everything and we tell no one outside the Marauders our secrets. Telling someone our secret is breaking the Marauders Code. So we keep each other's secrets forever. Marauders Forever. I like that as the password."

Sirius smiled and nodded his head. "I agree. That we be our password."

"That will be our password to open it up to us. But we need a password to make the words disappear when we are done with the book." Remus said.

"UGH!" James exclaimed, falling back onto his bed. "I hate passwords."

"Never Betray." Remus said.

James sat up and nodded his head. "Go with it."

"Evanui." Remus tapped the book with his wand as he said this. "Scribo." He tapped the book again.

James looked at him confused. "What does that do?"

"The first one makes all the words disappear. The second one allows us to still be able to write in this book." Remus explained, as he tapped the book again. "Patefacio Tutela: Marauders Forever. Propinquus Tutela: Never Betray."

Remus threw the book back to James. "Done."

James opened the book to see it completely empty. He pulled his wand out and tapped the book. "Marauders Forever." Words begun to appear on the pages. "It actually worked. "

"Of course it worked. I didn't make the spells up." Remus replied.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Sirius asked, looking at the book to.

Remus shrugged his shoulders. "It took me a while to find the spells, then I had to practice with the spells to get them perfect. Didn't want to mess up and destroy all your hard work."

"Never Betray." James tapped the book and watched the words disappear. "Nice. Thanks Remus. This is great."

Remus smiled and nodded his head. He hoped that his friends were so distracted by the spells he did on the book that they forgot about earlier when James asked if he had a secret. Marauders Forever. That would be true if he was normal. But as soon as James, Sirius, and Peter learn his secrets, it will no longer be Marauders Forever. They betray him and tell the school his secret. Marauders Forever means nothing when one of your friends is a werewolf.

**A/N: Please review!**

**I hope no one takes the Library Disease to heart.**

**I seriously hate coming up with passwords.**


	10. Chapter 10: Christmas Troubles

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

**The Marauders Year 1**

**Chapter 10: Christmas Troubles**

"What are you doing for Christmas, Sirius?" James asked. He was lying on his bed, tossing a ball into the air and catching it. He and his friends were relaxing in their dorm waiting for dinner when they would be released from their dorm. The Head Girl, which was a Gryffindor, had declared the four boys on house arrest until dinner. They (meaning Sirius and James) had accidentally set her hair on fire. After putting her hair out, she had given them all detention and put them on house arrest for the rest of the day until dinner. She put all four of them in house arrest because she thought they had done it as a prank and blamed all four of them.

Sirius, who was sitting on the window sill and staring out the window, frowned. "I'm staying here. My mother sent me a letter the other day telling me not to come home for Christmas or Easter. I'm only allowed home for summer."

"Well, you won't be alone." James said.

Sirius looked at James confused.

"I'm staying for Christmas too." James explained, smiling.

"If you're staying for me, you don't have to." Sirius replied, looking at the ground sadly.

James frowned. "Sirius, you my mate. I'm not going to let you be alone for the holidays. And besides think of all the mischief we can get into in an empty school, causing all sort of mayhem that will drive the teachers insane."

"But what about your parents?" Sirius asked.

"My parents said it would be okay and besides they're going to France for Christmas this year." James replied.

Sirius swung his foot gently and hitting the wall. "But don't you want to go to France?"

James jumped off his bed and moved over to Sirius. He grabbed Sirius by the shoulders. "Are you trying to get me to leave so you can be all alone and miserable for Christmas? If you do want to be alone and miserable just tell me and I go home for Christmas."

Sirius smiled and shook his head. "I don't want to be alone. I just don't want to ruin your Christmas."

"My Christmas isn't going to be ruined. Spending Christmas at Hogwarts is an amazing thing my dad said. He said you have to spend at least one Christmas at Hogwarts." James said, before turning to face Peter, who was watching them and Remus, who was lying on his bed and reading a book. "What about you two? Are you staying or going home?"

"My parents said the same thing about Hogwarts so I'm staying here as well." Peter replied.

Remus looked up from his book and frowned. "As much as I want to stay, I can't. I have to go home." He looked at the calendar on the wall next to his bed and smiled sadly. The full moon was during Christmas break. He really wanted to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas, but he couldn't say he had an emergency at home and had to leave for the full moon and then come back after the full moon. It would be strange and suspicious.

"Don't worry about it, mate. Maybe next year." James replied.

"Maybe." Remus whispered.

James sighed and sat back down on his bed. "Moving on. We have a prank to plan. At the feast before the students leave to go home, we're pulling the prank."

Remus groaned and sat up on his bed. "Can't we just forget the prank?"

"No. This is a Marauder's prank. We pull one the night they leave and the night they return." James replied, smirking mischievously. He got off his bed and jumped next to Remus on his bed. "It will be fun, Remy. And we can plan the second prank while you at home because we use those charmed parchments that your dad gave us."

"I don't want to pull any more pranks. I've had enough with pranks. They get boring after a while." Remus said, nonchalantly.

Sirius and James gaped at Remus with wide eyes. "Pranks get boring?" James questioned, slowly and shook his head slowly at the absurdness of it. He looked at Sirius, who was opening and closing his mouth as if trying to form words but nothing was coming out.

Peter just stared at Remus. "Now you've done it, Remus."

Remus looked between James and Sirius. "Oh no. What have I done?"

"Remus." Sirius said slowly, standing up and moving to stand in front of Remus. "Pranks never get boring as long as you never repeat a prank. You make your pranks original and something that no one would ever expect. That makes them enjoyable. Pranks never get boring."

James thought for a moment. "With Christmas coming up, I think our prank should have something to do with the Christmas spirit." He turned to looking at the frowning Remus. "Come on, Remy. You did the Halloween prank with not much fuss. This prank won't be like Halloween since it doesn't have to be scary and besides we promised Bilius to make his last year here amazing. And he enjoys the pranks. You wouldn't want to break the promise we made to Bilius, would you?"

Remus glared at James. "I hate you."

James smiled. "Remy, I know you like pranks and want to do this. So, what shall we do for our Christmas prank?"

Remus sighed and started helping them come up with a prank.

A few days later, Remus entered the dorm room to find James, Sirius, and Peter sitting on James's bed with their heads together talking quietly. They were so immersed in their conversation that they didn't notice Remus come into the room.

Remus walked over to his friends. They still didn't notice him standing there. Feeling mischievously, Remus pulled his wand out and pointed it at the three. "Aguamenti." A jet of water came out of his wand and hit the three boys on the bed.

James shook his hand, spraying water everywhere and glared at Remus. "What was that for?"

"Well, you didn't see that I came in so I thought I would get your attention." Remus answered, sitting on his bed. "What were you guys talking about anyway?"

"Nothing." James replied.

Remus raised a brow, suspicious. He narrowed his eyes at them, but didn't comment on it. He had more important matters on his hands.

Sirius fidgeted slightly at the suspiciously look from Remus. "So…uh…did you finish the potion we need for the prank?"

"Yeah. It's ready." Remus replied, distracted.

"Is something wrong, Remus?" Peter asked.

Remus frowned. "Did you guys read the paper today?"

Sirius snorted. "No."

"Did something important happen?" James asked, interested.

Remus nodded his head. "There's this guy going around with a huge group of followers. He believes in blood purity."

"So? Who cares? A lot of pure blood people believe that kind of stuff. What makes this guy so different?" Sirius asked, indifferently. He still didn't see what was so important and why it was making Remus distracted.

"He's actually taking action to achieve pure blood purity. He says muggle-born wizards and witches don't deserve to learn magic. And he hates muggles. He even attacked a muggle village a few days ago. Five muggles were killed and ten were severely injured and had to be sent to St. Mungo's Hospital." Remus explained.

Sirius paled and frowned. "So this guy is completely serious about blood purity?"

Remus nodded his head solemnly. "It seems like it."

"He'll be caught soon. People like this are always caught. Come on, let's get to work on our prank." James replied, wanting to move away from this depressing topic.

A few days later, the four boys forgot all about that man because they were busy putting the finishing touches on their prank that they were going to pull that night.

After getting their prank all set up, the four boys joined the traffic flowing into the Great Hall for the last dinner before Christmas break. They sat down quietly and waited for dinner to begin impatiently. For once, their target wasn't any of the Slytherins.

"Ready Remus?" James questioned.

"Yeah." Remus replied. "Are you?"

"Yes." James said.

Remus looked at the Head Table to see the teachers eating. None of them noticed anything and continued talking to each other and eating. Dumbledore was smiling happily and talking to McGonagall, who for once looked happy. That happiness wouldn't last long.

Sirius looked around the hall and nodded his head. "No one notices anything. Go ahead and start."

James pulled his wand out. He hid it under the table and had it pointed at the Head Table. He whispered an incantation, while waving his wand to activate the potion that was put in the teachers' food.

Sirius took his wand out and waited until it was his turn.

The teachers at the table felt the change immediately. Their bodies glowed a faint purple color as they changed. Dumbledore got fatter and shorter. The professors' hair and skin changed to brown. The professors' had antlers grow out of their heads and their hands turned into hooves.

Sirius took this time to change Dumbledore's clothe to a big red coat, red pants, and gave him a red hat with a white trim and white ball on the end, making him look like Santa.

The students finally realized something was going on and looked at the Head Table in shock. No one had ever pranked all the teachers at once.

Remus smirked and pulled his wand out to do something that wasn't part of the plan. He pointed his wand at McGonagall and muttered a spell make her nose red.

James and Sirius saw her nose turn red, shocked. They looked at Remus, who smirked at them. They had to put their fists in their mouths to stifle their laughter.

After he was finished with that he waved his wand again. "Decurro." He whispered the spell and pointed his wand at each teacher in turn.

After they all had the spell cast on them, Remus muttered another spell for them to start singing at the same time.

_Rudolph, the red-nose reindeer_

_Had a very shiny nose._

_And if you ever saw him,_

_You would even say it glows._

All the students stared at McGonagall and her red nose. They started laughing loudly.

_All of the other reindeer_

_Used to laugh and call him names._

_They never let poor Rudolph_

_Join in any reindeer games._

_Then one foggy Christmas Eve_

_Santa came to say:_

"_Rudolph with your nose so bright,_

_Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"_

_Then all the reindeer loved him_

_As they shouted out with glee,_

_Rudolph the red-nose reindeer,_

_You'll go down in history!_

When the song was finished, the hall burst into laughter and applause.

"Want me to give our name now?" Remus asked.

James thought quickly and nodded his head.

McGonagall stood up and glared at all the students. She changed all the teachers and Dumbledore, who looked amused and annoyed, back to normal before turning back to. "Who did this?"

Remus whispered another spell and started writing in the sky.

_That would be us, McGonagall._

McGonagall glared at the writing. "And who would you be?"

_And why do you want to know?_

The hall stared confused at the writing, even the teachers.

McGonagall fumed. "So, I can give you detention for the rest of your school life."

_McGonagall. McGonagall. Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Why would I give you our real names? That would be the stupidest thing I could ever do. But I will give you the name of our group._

McGonagall huffed and clenched her fist tightly, making her knuckled turn white. "What do you need a group name for?"

_So, the students have something to call us when they discuss our awesome, marvelous, wonderful, astounding, extraordinary, stupendous, miraculous….._

"We get the point!" McGonagall snapped angrily. She looked ready to hex someone.

James and Sirius were red in the face and were having trouble keeping themselves from laughing. They had to bite down on their hands to keep from laughing. Peter was biting down on his lip and was red in the face too. Only Remus managed to keep a stoic expression as he was writing.

_You know it's quite rude to interrupt people. Now where was I. Oh yes! Astonishing, incredible, spectacular, fantastic, Pheno-_

This was getting too much for the three marauders, so James kicked Remus in the leg to get him to stop. Remus stopped writing in surprise from the kick and rubbed his leg. "Ow." After glaring at James, Remus went back to writing.

_-menal pranks. We don't want to make the students go around the school callings us them, it, you, people, persons, blah, blah, blah. So we thought we'd give you our name so you have something to call us by. Something incredible to call us by. Not something stupid like pranksters and tricksters. Those names are boring. So we give you our name:_

_The Marauders!_

Most of the students started talking excitedly about the Marauders. The only students not talking excitedly were the ones who stuck by the rules like goody two shoes, like Lily, and the Slytherins. Some of the Slytherins looked curious, but didn't say anything. The Marauders weren't talking because they were trying not to laugh at the looks on the teachers' faces.

"Were you the ones who pulled the Halloween prank?" McGonagall asked in a calm, strict tone.

_Of course. That should have been obvious. I thought you were smart, McGonagall._

McGonagall practically had stream coming out of her ears.

Dumbledore stood up and motioned for McGonagall to stop. "I think that is enough for this evening. Marauders, we will figure out who you are. Be prepared."

_Awww. But Dumbly, I was just starting to have fun._

James slammed his head on the table to keep himself from laughing.

Sirius looked ready to explode from the laughter he was holding in. He glared at Remus, who smiled innocently.

_I guess we can end this discussion, Dumbly. My colleagues think it is time to end this for the evening, plus they look ready to kill me. So:_

_Merry Christmas Hogwarts!_

Remus stopped the spell and pouted. "Whenever I start having fun, you guys ruin it."

"What happened to the Remus who didn't like pranks? You're disrespecting the teachers." James hissed.

"As long as they don't know it is me, then I don't mind doing this. But when it's me doing it, I'm going to be careful." Remus explained.

For the rest of dinner, the students talked excitedly about The Marauders. The four boys smiled at the attention they were getting, even though no one knew it was them.

The next day, Remus packed up his trunk and said good bye to his friends. He really wanted to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas, but knew it wasn't a possibility and that upset him.

This month's full moon was easy for Remus since he didn't have to make up a lie to his friends. But being locked in the basement again was not enjoyable for the wolf after getting roam around a big house for the past three months.

After the full moon, Remus's mom made him rest until Christmas which was two days after the full moon. The day before Christmas, Remus sent Darkwing to Hogwarts with the presents for his friends. Remus wondered how his friends were. He could speak to his friends with enchanted parchment, but he forgot it at Hogwarts.

Remus looked out his bedroom window on Christmas morning at the town. The town Remus lived in was small. It was a muggle a town. They lived here because it was less likely that muggles would figure out that Remus was a werewolf.

"Remus!" Lena called up the stairs to her son.

"Coming!" Remus said.

Remus ran down the stairs to see his mother waiting at the bottom of them for him. "Yes mother?"

"You got some gifts for your uncle, grandparents, cousins, and those friends of yours." Lena explained, pointing into the living room.

"Thanks mother." Remus replied, running into the living room.

Auva watched his son open his gifts happily. "Having a good Christmas, son?"

"It's great. It would be better if there wasn't a full moon during the break, but at least it was at the beginning of the break." Remus replied, opening a gift from his uncle. It was tickets to the Quidditch World Cup. "You guys just don't get that I don't like Quidditch."

Auva laughed and ruffled his son's hair. "The World Cup is one of the best games ever. Your friends love Quidditch, right? They can come with us, okay? And those were expensive tickets. You should thank your uncle. It costs a lot to get them in advance like this."

Remus sighed. "Right. Sorry dad. I'll thank him the next time I see him."

The rest of the day went by great for Remus. It got a lot of presents and chocolate from his friends and family. He even got a gift from Lily. It was a muggle book called_The Shifter_. His marauder friends each got him a lot of chocolate. James also got him a book about pranks with a note saying to read it and come up with new ideas. Sirius got him vials of this potion from a Zonko's that produced smoke when you threw the vials on the ground. They were used to escape tight situations during pranks. Peter got him more quills.

It was after their Christmas dinner that Remus's day turned horrible. He was outside playing in the snow, making a snow man, when he saw a mark in the sky. It was a green skull with a snake coming from its mouth.

"What is that?" Remus whispers to himself.

Remus doesn't get much time to think as he sees men in black cloaks and wearing masks marching towards the village. They were firing spells at the houses, gaining the attention of muggles and they were coming outside to see what was going on.

The men started to attack the muggles with different spells, torturing them. The muggles screamed out in pain. The sky was lighting up with the flashes of lights from the spells.

Auva ran outside to see what was happening after alerting the Ministry for help. "Remus, get inside now." He hissed at his son.

Remus doesn't move. He continues to stare at the men in fear. Some of the men were firing a spell that came out as green sparks. The spell hit the muggles and they hit the ground, dead.

Remus stared in fear at the men. They were torturing and killing the muggles.

"Remus! Inside now!" Auva ordered.

The young werewolf moved back a few steps. His movement caught the attention of one of the men. The man turned to face Remus with his wand raised.

Remus stared wide eyed at the man and froze in his movement. He was scared.

"Avada-" The man started to say.

Auva's eyes widened. He knew that spell. He started to run towards his son.

"Kedavra!" The man finished.

Just as the man finished the curse, Auva jumped in front of his son.

Time seemed to slow down for Remus. He saw the man fire a curse at him, then his father jumped in front of him, staring at his son with love in his eyes, mouthing words to him. The next second, Auva was falling on top of his son with empty, emotionless eyes. Remus fell to the ground with his father on top of him. He couldn't move. He was trapped under his dead father.

"Dad?" Remus asked. Auva didn't reply. "Dad?"

Remus was starting to panic. His father wasn't replying.

The man who fired the spell walked over to Remus and kicked Auva off of him. He pointed his wand at Remus.

Remus stared back at him with wide, scared eyes.

"Sectum."

Remus felt his body be torn up. He screamed in pain and his hands scraped at the ground.

The man smirked at Remus's pain. "Sectum."

Remus screamed again, tears flowing down his face. He the cuts on his body that were appearing from the spell. His blood running down his body.

After using the spell a few more times, the man decided to end it. "Avada Ke…" The man started.

"Expelliarmus." A woman yelled.

The man's wand disappeared from his hand.

"Stupefy!" The woman yelled.

A red spell hit the man and he fell to the ground.

Remus sat up and looked around. More wizards and witches had showed up and were fighting the wizards in black cloaks.

"Are you okay, dear?" A kind woman voice asked him.

Remus looked at her scared, then looked at his dad. Ignoring the woman's question, Remus crawled over to his dad's body.

"Dear, he's dead." The woman said.

Tears filled up in Remus's eyes. "No. He shouldn't be. The spell was meant for me. I'm the one who should be dead. It was meant for me. I'm the one who should be dead. Me. Not him."

"Dear, you have to go inside now. It's dangerous out here." The woman said.

Remus shook his head and stayed where he was, crying on his father.

The woman cast a protective charm around Remus and turned back to the dark wizards to keep fighting. She didn't have time to talk the boy into going inside.

The dark wizards saw that they were outnumbered and apparated away.

The woman turned back to Remus. "Dear, you need to go to St. Mungo's."

"Why?" Remus asked.

"You were attacked. You covered in wounds. It won't be for long." The woman said.

A woman screamed nearby, making Remus looked up. He saw his mother standing in the doorway of her house, tears running down her face. "What happened? Your father told me to hide in the basement and ran outside."

"Mom." Remus whispered.

Lena ran over to her son and hugged him tightly, making him whimper in pain.

A few days later, Remus was released from St Mungo's and went back home with Uncle Kaus, who works as Head of Magical Games and Sports. His uncle had light grey eyes and short brown hair. "Remus, I'm sorry about your father."

"Don't be. It wasn't anyone's fault but mine. I should have ran when he told me to." Remus whispered.

"You can't blame yourself. You were scared. Most kids would have been scared frozen stiff. Your father did what he did because he loved you." Kaus said. He looked down at his nephew sadly. "He wouldn't want you blaming yourself."

Remus clenched his hands into fists. "Uncle Kaus, thanks for the Quidditch tickets."

Kaus looked at Remus strangely. Now really wasn't a good time to be thanking him for something like that.

"I promised my dad to thank you the next time I saw you. I just wish it wasn't on horrible conditions like this." Remus explained. His eyes filling with tears.

Kaus knelt next to Remus and hugged him tightly, letting Remus cry on his shoulder.

At Hogwarts, Sirius stared at the Daily Prophet in shock. "James, Peter, there was another attack."

"By that crazy guy Remus told us about?" James asked.

Sirius nodded his head. "It was on Christmas day in the town where Remus lives."

"WHAT?" James screamed.

"Ten more muggles were killed. Two wizards were injured fighting these darks wizards and Remus was injured and sent to St. Mungo's and his father was killed." Sirius explained solemnly.

James stared at his dinner sourly. He pushed his plate away, not hungry anymore. Peter and Sirius followed suit.

"Poor Remus. And on Christmas to." Peter muttered.

"We're not doing that prank we were planning for the return feast. I don't have the heart to do it anymore." James replied.

"Same here." Sirius said.

The boys left the Great Hall and went up to their dorm to sulk for the rest of Christmas break. None of them had the heart to do anything. They were too depressed.

Sirius kicked his nightstand. "Those bastards."

James clenched his fists until his knuckled turned white. "It isn't fair."

"Nothing's fair." Sirius growled, angrily.

Remus ran to his mother as soon as he got home. He hugged her tightly around the waist. "Mom."

"Remus, dear." Lena whispered and hugged her son back. She fell to her knees as she hugged him, tears falling down her face. "My son, are you alright?"

"Daddy died cause of me. All my fault." Remus whispered.

Lena's eyes widened. "It's not your fault, dear. Don't blame yourself."

Remus cried harder into his mother's shoulder. "Yes, it is. I want to quit Hogwarts. I don't want to go back. I'm not going back. I don't deserve to know magic."

**A/N: Please review!**

**I felt the urge that someone needed to die. And since Remus was the only one going home, it had to be one of his parents. I was originally going to wait until probably around third year to kill someone, but I wanted to do it now. Don't think of that in a bad way. I didn't want anyone to die, but it's a war and people have to die. And it had to be Remus's parents anyway. James is suppose to have the perfect life where nothing goes wrongs. Sirius probably wouldn't care that much if his parents died. And I don't give a damn about Peter's life and I don't know anything about him.**

**I'll admit this. I was close to tears by the time I finished this chapter.**


	11. Chapter 11: Brothers

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

**The Marauders Year 1**

**Chapter 11: Brothers**

**The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.- Mark Twain**

After his father's funeral, Remus locked himself up in his room. He never came out except to go to the bathroom. His mother brought all his meals to his room. She would leave the meals outside his room. Remus only took one of the meals and he barely ate it. He just nibbled at it. The other two meals he just ignored.

Lena tried talking to him, but Remus ignored everything she said. He just lay on his bed, staying at the ceiling all day. Nothing his mother said made him feel any better. His mother was the responsibility parent. She always made sure he followed the rules and respected everyone.

His father was the fun parent. He always made sure his son had fun and let him play pranks when he was younger. He said it was good for kids to misbehave and have fun. It's all a part of growing up he use to say. Being bad and causing trouble was part of childhood.

Remus curled up into a ball on his bed and stared absently out his window. The sun was beginning to set. He looked at his nightstand to see all the letters from James, Sirius, Peter, Lily, Angel, Bilius, and various other students that he knew at Hogwarts and talked to sometimes. Remus didn't know what they wanted. He ignored all the letters. He considered throwing them in the fireplace, but Remus didn't want to go downstairs so he got rid of that idea.

True to his word, Remus quit Hogwarts. The students were going back tomorrow. Remus absolutely refused to join them. He didn't want to go back. He saw no reason to learn now. He agreed to go for his dad. But now his dad was gone and Remus didn't want to learn anymore. Knowing magic wasn't going to help anyone. He was a werewolf after all. Even if he finished school, he wouldn't get employed anywhere. So, what was the point of going back?

Remus heard a knock downstairs and his mother answering the door. "Hi Aunt Lena." A male voice said.

Remus recognized the voice as his second oldest and favorite cousin, Jason. He was eighteen and just graduated Hogwarts last year. He was training to an Auror. His father was Kaus and he had an older sister, Selene. Jason was beginning to become really fit from his training as an Auror and from when he played Quidditch at Hogwarts as a beater.

Selene was Remus's oldest cousin. She was twenty. She was a mediwitch at St. Mungo's Hospital. When Remus had to go there, she was there to help take care of him. She was very skinny and had a curvaceous body. She had long auburn hair that reached her waist that was tried in a pony tail and blue-grey eyes. On her finger was a diamond ring to show she was engaged.

"Jason, Selene, what are you three doing here?" Lena asked.

"Father told me that Remus declared he was quitting school. I want to talk to him." Jason explained.

"And I'm here to check on his wounds." Selene said, worry in her voice. "I can't believe dark wizards were here."

Lena frowned. "He's in his room. I can't get in since he locked it. He won't let me in."

"Thanks Aunt Lena." Selene replied.

The two siblings climbed the stairs and stopped in front of Remus's room. Jason knocked on the door. "Remus, can you open the door?"

"Go away." Remus replied in a monotone.

"We're not going anywhere, Remus. Open the door." Jason said.

Remus pulled his blanket over his body.

Jason sighed and pulled his wand out after a few minutes. "Alohomora." He tapped the door with his wand.

The door unlocked and the two siblings entered the room. Selene walked over to the bed and pulled the blanket off of Remus. "I need to check your wounds, Rems."

Selene pulled Remus up by his arm and took his shirt off. She examined his wounds on his chest, neck, and arms. "Your wounds seem fine. Do you hurt anywhere?"

"No." Remus replied.

Selene frowned. "Rems?"

Remus sighed. "My chest still hurts, but it's not a lot. It's not a big deal."

Selene pushed softly on Remus's chest, making him whimper. "If that hurts, then it not a little pain." She pulled a vial out of the bag she brought with her and handed it to Remus. "Drink this. It will take the pain away."

Remus drank the potion and handed the vial back. He pulled his shirt back on. "Thanks Selene."

"No problem. I leave you and Jason to talk alone." Selene replied, leaving the room.

Jason sat on the bed next to Remus. "Rems."

"I know why you're here, Jason. Just forget it. I'm not going back to Hogwarts. I don't want to learn anymore." Remus interrupted. "There's no point in learning anymore."

Jason grabbed Remus's shoulder and stared him in the eye. "Why is there no point anymore?"

"I went to Hogwarts for my dad. Even if I do graduate, I won't go anyway in life. Why should I bother anymore?" Remus said.

"Your dad would want you to continue your education. He wouldn't want you to quit school just because he died. He died so you could continue living. He doesn't want you to mope around your room for the rest of your life. Auva would want you to go back to school. Go back to your friends." Jason said. He looked at Remus's nightstand. "You have a lot of people who are concerned about you. They all want you to go back to Hogwarts."

Remus looked at the letters. "How would you know?"

Jason grabbed one of the letters. "Did you look at any of these letters?"

"I don't want to." Remus replied.

Jason sighed and put the letter back down. "Rems think about this. Uncle Auva died to save you because he loved you and wants you to continue living. If you're going to stay in your room and wallow in self-pity and quit Hogwarts, then his sacrifice was pointless. Do you want his sacrifice to be in vain? If so, stay here. If not, go back to Hogwarts. Go back to your friends."

Remus stared at Jason sadly. "I don't know if any of them are true friends."

"Go back to Hogwarts, Rems. See your friends. I bet anything that they are true friends. They won't abandon you for anything." Remus opened his mouth to retort, but Jason continued before he could. "They won't abandon you for anything I bet. The way you talk about them makes me believe that. Go back. They'll be waiting for you."

Remus hugged Jason tightly before lying back in bed and pulling the blanket over himself.

Jason smiled and left the room. "Think about it, Rems."

James sat on his bed, staring out the window. "Why hasn't he replied?"

"Who knows?" Sirius replied, solemnly.

"I hope he's okay." Peter said.

"I'm sure he's fine. We'll see him tomorrow when he comes back." James replied.

Sirius frowned. "If he comes back."

James's eyes snapped towards Sirius. "Why wouldn't he come back?"

Sirius shrugged. "I was just saying."

Remus looked at the letters on his nightstand. The train back to Hogwarts was leaving in an hour. What his cousin said was true. His father saved him so he could continue living. He grabbed one of the letters off the nightstand and opened it.

_Dear Remus,_

_I am sorry to hear about your father. It was tragic to hear about his death. My mother is an Auror and informed that you're blaming yourself for his death. Please don't blame yourself, Remus. Your father wouldn't want you to. He would want you to honor his death by moving on in your life, not moping about. My father died protecting me too, Remus. I know from experience that this is true. It's alright to be sad and upset that he died, but he doesn't want you to be upset forever. My mother told me you were injured. I hope that you are alright. I hope to see you back at Hogwarts._

_Love Angel._

Remus had tears fall out of his eyes and onto the paper. His hand clenched into a fist as he put the letter down. He grabbed the next letter.

_Dear Remy,_

_I read about what happened in the paper. I'm sorry to hear that your father died. From what you told me about him, he sounded like a great person. I hope you're okay. The paper said you were sent to St. Mungo's for injuries from a dark wizard. Please come back to Hogwarts. I know that you will be upset over your father's death and want to give up on everything. You know my parents aren't the greatest and I want to give up because of them. Then I came to Hogwarts and made three great friends. If it wasn't for my friends, I would have given up. Being a Black and being in Gryffindor is hard with my parents. But friends help me through it. And friends will help you through this, Remy. I'll see you at Hogwarts. And if I don't see you come back, I'm going to hunt you down and forcibly drag you back here. Come of your own free will. Save us both the trouble._

_Yours dearest,_

_Sirius_

Remus put the letter down and smiled. Sirius was a great friend to him and helped him whenever he needed it. His friends were always there for him. Remus grabbed the other letters and read them to. All of them said they were sorry about his father's death and that they hoped to see him back at Hogwarts.

_Remus,_

_I'm really sorry to hear about your father. From what you told me about him, I know he was a great man and a great father to you. It wasn't fair what happened. You deserve a better life then you have. Please don't let his death change you. He wouldn't want that. Your father would want you to continue with your life like before. I hope you are okay, Remus._

_Lots of Loves from Lily_

A knock at his bedroom door brought Remus out of his thoughts. He looked up to see Jason enter his room. He stayed the night incase Remus decided to go back to Hogwarts.

"Going back?" Jason asked.

Remus looked at his pile of letters, then at his cousin. He slowly nodded his head.

Jason smiled. "Good." He looked around the room and saw Remus's stuff spread all around the room. "We need to pack and leave. The train leaves in twenty minutes. So we don't have time to pack by hand." He pulled his wand out and used magic to put everything in Remus's trunk.

Remus got out of bed and moved to his dresser to get dressed. It took him five minutes to get dressed.

"Rems, less then fifteen minutes." Jason said.

"How are we getting to the train station?" Remus asked, trying to be happy. He wasn't doing that well. He was still upset and anyone could tell by looking at him. His eyes still looked empty and lost. His skin was really pale and he lost a lot of weight in the past week and a half from eating very little. His clothes were starting to hang off his body because of this.

"I'm going to apparate us to a near it, probably into an alley. I told your mom already. Grab hold." Jason said.

Remus nodded his head and grabbed Jason's arm. A second later the two boys and Remus's trunk disappeared.

They reappeared in an alley a second later. Jason grabbed the handle of Remus's trunk and started pulling it out of the alley. Remus let go of Jason's arm and stumbled after him, being weak from so little food and a little dizzy.

After a five minute walked, the two boys made it to King's Cross Station. Not pausing for a minute, they entered the station and made their way to Platform 9 ¾. When they reached it, it was five minutes to eleven. Remus went through the barrier after Jason.

Jason helped Remus load his trunk onto the train. "Bye Rems."

Remus turned to face his cousin. "Thanks Jason." He hugged him quickly. "Bye."

Remus jumped onto the train as it started moving. He waved to his cousin before moving down the train, looking for an empty compartment. He wanted a little more time to himself. Remus had to walk all the way to the end of the train to find an empty compartment.

The young werewolf took this time to take a nap.

A few hours later, Remus's compartment door opened and a pretty fifth year prefect entered. Two boys peek their heads in the compartment behind her. "Angel, he's sleeping. We should leave him alone. He's probably still upset. I'm surprised he's coming back now. He should have waited a few weeks before returning." Shawn said.

Angel kneeled on the ground and looked at Remus. "I'm just worried about him. I mean look at him. He's so thin and pale. It looks like he hasn't been eating well for a while."

"Should we send an owl to James?" Ness asked.

Angel petted Remus's hair and smiled sadly at the sleeping werewolf. "Yeah. I got a letter from James the other day asking me to look for Remus on the train. He's worried. He's been ignoring everyone's letters. Looks like he's been wallowing in self-pity for a while."

Shawn smiled. "I'll go send an owl ahead to tell them that he's coming back and to warn them of his condition." He nodded at Angel and Ness, before leaving the compartment to go write a letter.

Remus rolled over on the seats and opened his eyes to come face to face with Angel. He pushed himself stiffly up into a sitting position. "Hi Angel."

Angel put a comforting hand on Remus's shoulder. "Remus, are you okay?"

Remus smiled falsely cheerful at Angel. "I'm just peachy."

"Please don't lie, Remus." Angel replied, smiling sadly at the young boy. For only being a fifth year, Angel was really mature, smart, generous, and kind. She was mean and tough when she had to be. She had the mother's touch. Some day she would probably make a great mother. Angel took pride in her prefect duties. Not only did she make sure students followed the rules, but she also cared for them and made sure they were okay.

Remus looked out the window, sadly. "What do you expect me to say? I just lost my father."

"I know that and I don't think he would be happy with you right now." Angel replied, looking Remus up and down. "He would be upset to see his son starving himself and wallowing in self-pity the way you are. It's almost like he wasted his life by saving you, since you're slowly killing yourself like this. You need to eat and rest properly."

Remus wrung his hands together. "Sorry."

"Start taking care of yourself." Angel replied. "That's how you can repay your dad for saving you. By living."

Remus nodded his head and looked out the window.

"I see he's awake." Shawn said when he came back to the compartment. "I sent the letter to James. They should be waiting for Remus when we get back to the school."

"What did you say?" Remus asked, worried.

Shawn frowned. "The truth. That you look horrible and that you look like you've been starving yourself."

Remus blushed at that and looked at his feet.

The compartment door opened and a red-head with emerald green eyes came in. She looked at Remus and frowned. "Remus, you dolt. What have you been doing to yourself?"

"The prat has been wallowing in self-pity." Angel explained, standing up. "Can you stay with him, Lily? We're going back to our compartment."

Lily nodded her head and sat next to Remus. When the three fifth years were gone, Lily turned to Remus. "You look starved. Haven't you been eating?"

"Not really." Remus answered.

Lily smacked Remus in the head. "Idiot."

Remus frowned and rubbed his head. "Ow."

Lily hugged Remus after that. "I'm here for you."

Remus hugged her back. "Thank Lils."

An owl flew into the Gryffindor Tower and landed in front of James. James grabbed the letter and opened it. "It's from Shawn." He explained to Peter and Sirius. "He says that Remus is on the train coming back, but he looks really pale and like he's been starving himself."

"THAT IDIOT!" Sirius screamed. "As soon as he gets back, we're going to have a nice long chat."

"After he eats." James added.

Sirius stopped talking and nodded his head. "Yes. After Remy eats, we're going to have a long chat."

James looked at his watch and stood up. "They'll be here soon. Let's go wait for Remus in the Entrance Hall."

The three marauders stood in the Entrance Hall, watching students coming inside. They were talking cheerfully and were smiling. They passed the three first years on their way to their common rooms.

A red-head saw them and dragged the person she was with over to them. "Potter, Black, Pettigrew." She greeted.

"Hello Evans." James replied, looking at the boy with her. He was extremely pale and really skinning. His clothes hung off his slim shoulders. A frowned was planted on Remus's face and his stared sadly and lonely at James. "Remus."

Sirius and Peter were staring at Remus too. They knew he would look bad from losing his father and moaning for him, but they didn't expect it to be this bad.

Lily turned to Remus. "I have to go meet my friends. Your friends will take over for me. I'm really sorry again, Remus." She hugged him once more before leaving.

When Lily was gone, James gently grabbed Remus's wrist and pulled him towards the Gryffindor Tower. James took Remus to their dorm, with Sirius and Peter following, and sat him on his bed. "Remus, rest until dinner time."

Remus didn't complain. He kicked his shoes off and curled into a ball onto his bed.

"He looks so much more vulnerable and weak then he usually does." James whispered, staring at Remus.

"He just needs to eat more. He'll be fine." Sirius replied, though he didn't sound too sure.

"I hope so." James said, taking his eyes off of Remus.

An hour later, James pulled a reluctant Remus off his bed. "It's time for dinner, Remy."

Remus pulled his arm back and hid under his cover. "Go without me." He pleaded.

James's eyes narrowed and he pulled the covers off of Remus. "I spoke to Angel. She told me that she talked to you on the train about this. A lot of people have spoken to you about this, I bet. Why aren't you listening to any of them?"

Remus glared at James. "Leave me alone, James."

James opened his mouth to reply, but Sirius put a hand on his shoulder to him. "We agreed to wait after he ate. He'll be stronger then to handle it." He whispered to James, before speaking louder to Remus. "Remy, up now. You need to eat. You look like one good poke can finish you off."

Without giving him a chance to reply, Sirius pulled the reluctant werewolf out of bed and out of the dorm. James and Peter followed them.

In the Great Hall, Lily came up to them, frowning. "Remus?"

"He didn't want to come to dinner." Sirius explained. He thought she was confused because Sirius had to half-carry Remus down there. Remus was doing a very good job of trying to fight his way away from them.

"Remus, you are an idiot." Lily growled, smacking Remus in the head. She turned a murderous glare to James, Sirius, and Peter. "Make sure he eats a lot. I'll be checking on you after dinner."

James stared after Lily. "Wow. She's hot when she's mad."

Sirius smacked James in the back of the head. "We're eleven. Let's go seat down."

James nodded, still in a daze as he stared after Lily.

Sighing, Sirius dragged both James and Remus down the table to their usual spot. He sat James down and forced Remus to sit next to him. Sirius crawled under the table to get to the other side and sat down next to Peter.

"James, snap out of it." Sirius growled at James, who was staring down the table at Lily.

"Sorry." James replied, shaking his head and turning to Sirius.

Remus stared at the food in front of him.

James sighed and started piling food onto Remus's plate. "Remus, I want you to eat all of this food. You aren't leaving the table until you do." James ordered before turning to his plate and piling food onto it to.

Remus stared at his plate for a few minutes. He looked at James to see him glaring at him. He pointed his fork at Remus's plate. "Eat all of it now."

Remus stared at James with puppy eyes.

"Not going to work on this, Remus." James growled. "You need food."

Remus glared at him and pouted. "Stupid James. Bloody Jason. Bloody food. Stupid gits. Stupid school."

"Stop grumbling, Remus." Sirius said.

"Just eat or I'm going to shove the food down your throat." James threatened.

Remus looked at James nervously to see that he looked completely serious. Nervously, Remus started eating slowly. By the time he finished eating, he and his friends were the last ones in the Great Hall.

"Happy?" Remus asked when he finished.

"Very." James replied, standing up. His friends followed him and they went back to Gryffindor Tower.

When they entered, Lily came over to them. "He ate, Evans." Sirius said, before she could say anything. "We made sure he ate everything we put on his plate. Sorry, we can't stay and talk. We have stuff to do."

Sirius dragged James away from Lily and smacked him in the back of the head.

"What was that about?" Lily questioned.

Remus shrugged. "Don't know."

Lily turned her angry, green eyes to Remus. "I can't believe you were practical starving yourself. Do you want to die?"

Remus stared at his feet nervously. "I don't know what I want."

"Remus, no one wants you to die." Lily said, softly.

Remus frowned and mumbled something that sounded like 'they will when they find out what I am' to himself.

Sirius came back over and dragged Remus away from Lily and up to their dorm. "I swear first James, now you. Evans is taking you all away from me." Sirius grumbled to himself. He locked the dorm door behind them and pushed Remus onto his bed.

"Do you guys want something?" Remus asked, looking from Sirius to James to Peter.

James crossed his arms and raised a brow. "What do you think? You've been wallowing in self-pity. Lots of people have talked to you about your depression and the starving yourself, but you've ignored them all. Now it's our turn."

"Why bother?" Remus asked, staring at the wall to avoid eye contact.

"What?" Sirius asked perplexed and angrily.

Remus turned to glare at Sirius. "Why bother? You don't care. No one cares. The only person who cared was my father and now he's dead. Just leave me alone."

Sirius clenched his fists. "No. One. Cares? Why the hell would you say something like that? We care, you bloody prat! Everyone who spoke to you about this cares! How can you say that we don't care? We're your friends! Do you know what that means?"

Remus frowned. "I-I'm…..n-n-not…sure."

James frowned and sat on the bed next to Remus. "Then let us tell you."

"Friends are like family. They are always there for each other. They never leave one of their friends alone. If their friend is hurt or severely depressed, friends will be there to help him or her. No matter what happens between friends, no matter all our faults, no matter our problems, no matter how many fights we have, no matter the hardships we face, we will always be there for one another." Sirius explained.

James hugged Remus. "Friends are people who care for each other. They love each other like they were a family. We're brothers, Remus. We will always be here for you. Nothing is going to break us apart. We're brothers and we're here for you. We want to help you through this. Let people help you, Remy. Wallowing in self-pity isn't the way to deal with your father's death."

Remus slowly wrapped his arms around James during his speech. "Then how do I deal with it?"

James tightened his hug. "Cry. Let the pain out. We won't make fun of you for it. I understand that it's painful to lose a love one."

"How would you know?" Remus asked.

"My Uncle died a few years ago." James replied. "I went through depression like you. He was my favorite Uncle. We were so close. He was like a brother to me, like you. I don't like seeing my brother like this. It hurts me to see my brother hurting."

Sirius and Peter moved over to the bed and sat down. They joined in the hug. "It hurts all of us, Remy." Sirius whispered.

Remus choked back a sob. His fists clenched the fabric of James's cloak. He buried his face in James's shoulder as tears started to slide down his face. "I don't know what to do anymore. I'm lost without my father. He's always been there for me when I needed him. Now I need him more than anything, but he's not here. I'm so lost."

"That's what friends are for, Remus. We're here to help you. Stop trying to suffer on your own. Just come to us. We'll help you with whatever you need." Sirius replied. "You can trust us with anything."

Remus reply was muffled by James shirt.

About ten minutes later, Remus cried himself to sleep. James laid Remus on his bed and pulled the blanket over to him.

Sirius stood by him and looked at Remus, sadly. "He didn't know what it meant to be friends."

"What are you trying to say Sirius?" James asked. He turned his sad eyes to Sirius.

"He had very few, no friends, or was betrayed by his friends when he was younger." Sirius answered, looking away from James.

James clenched his hands into fists. "I don't get why though. Why would that happen? He doesn't deserve that."

Sirius frowned. "Who knows? But we aren't bringing it up. It will just upset him more."

James nodded his head. He looked at Remus one more time before going to bed himself.

Sirius stayed where he was. He stayed there looking at Remus for ten more minutes. "We'll never betray or abandon you, Remus. Just trust us, please."

**When it hurts to look back, and you're scared to look ahead, you can look beside you, and your best friend will be there.- Unknown  
The funny (not really funny, more ironic maybe) thing about this quote, it was in my yearbook. I love this quote so I was so happy to see it in my yearbook!**

**Please review!**

**I dedicated a whole chapter to a depressed Remus! I didn't think I would be able to do it.**

**And with that, I don't think I can take this depression anymore. It's giving me a headache and is too difficult to write about.**


	12. Chapter 12: Never Change

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter**

**The Marauders Year 1**

**Chapter 12: Never Change**

The next morning, Remus was the first one to wake up. He brought a hand up to his face to feel that it was still wet. _'Must have cried all night.' _Remus looked at his sleeping friends. They all looked peaceful and content with sleeping.

Remus wrung his hands around each other. If it was anytime before Christmas, he would play a prank as a way to wake them up. But right now, Remus didn't have the heart to do it. With his father gone, he didn't have the heart to do many things.

Instead of waking his friends up, Remus took a shower and got dressed for school quietly. Then he sat on his bed and stared out the window. He would wait for his friends to wake up by themselves.

The first of Remus's friends to wake up was James. He rolled over on his bed and grabbed his glasses off the nightstand. He opened his eyes to look at Remus to see him staring at absent mindlessly out the window. "Morning Remus. How long have you been up?"

"Bout an hour." Remus answered, turning his sad gaze to James.

James looked at the clock and fell out of his bed in shock. "Remus, why didn't you wake us up? We are fifteen minutes late for double defense." He jumped out of his bed and started digging through his dresser for clothes. "SIRIUS! PETER! UP NOW! WE LATE TO DEFENSE!"

Sirius tumbled onto the ground in a flurry of blankets. Peter joined him a second later.

"What?" Sirius asked, stupidly.

"Late to class." James repeated, pulling his pants on. "Remus didn't wake us."

Sirius untangled himself from his blankets and stood up. "Rem, why didn't you wake us?"

"You guys looked content with sleeping. I decided to wait for you to wake up." Remus replied with a shrug.

Sirius frowned, but didn't reply. He helped Peter free himself of his blankets and started getting dressed. "We missed breakfast too. This is just great. Next time, wake us, Remus. I don't care if we looked content with sleeping. At least we don't have McGonagall first thing today. That would be horrible."

Remus watched his friends get dressed, disinterested. "Can't we skip? I really don't feel like going back to classes."

"No." James snapped. "Normally, I would be all for it, especially if we were going to pull a prank. But Rem, this is your depression talking. Going to class we help you with your depression, because you'll be going back to doing something you enjoy. Now let's go!"

James pulled Remus out of the dorm behind Sirius and Peter.

"You four are late." Rana growled. Her hands were planted on her hips and she was glaring at the four boys. "Care to explain why you were late? Planning another prank?"

James frowned and looked at Remus out of the corner of his eye. He looked fine and didn't seem to care that there was a yelling teacher in front of him. He seemed far more fascinated by the wall. "Well, no prank this time. Remus decided that we, as in Sirius, Peter, and me, looked happy with sleeping, so he didn't wake us up. So, we just overslept, ma'am."

Rana frowned and looked at Remus to. "Is he okay? He doesn't look normal."

"He's still depressed." James explained.

"Would explain why he allowed you guys to be late." Rana grumbled. "I let you out of trouble this time. Just don't let it happen anymore. And please help Mr. Lupin feel better. Now, take your seats."

The boys complied and moved to their seats.

"Okay, as I was saying before we were interrupted. We are going to start learning jinxes. Jinxes are spells with negative effects. Most of the time, jinxes are used for amusement, but they can be helpful when you are trying to escape from a bad situation. They cause the victim minor discomfort." Rana explained to the class.

Some of the students were taking notes, while others were just listening. Remus just sat staring at the wall, not really caring about the class.

"Can anyone tell me about some jinxes that you know of?" Rana asked, looking at the class expectantly.

Lily's hand shot up into the air.

"Ms. Evans."

Lily smiled at being called on. "There is the jelly-legs jinx, tarantallegra, and the knockback jinx."

Rana nodded her head, smiling. "Yes, those are all jinxes. Can anyone, besides Ms. Evans, tell me what the jelly-legs jinx does?"

No one raised their hands.

"Come on. Surely, someone knows what it does." Rana said, looking around the classroom. Her eyes stopped on Remus, who still wasn't paying attention. "Mr. Lupin, would you care to tell us what the jelly-legs jinx does?"

Remus moved his eyes towards his professor. "Not really, professor."

James frowned and smacked Remus in the head. "Answer the question." He hissed quietly.

"Why?" Remus whispered.

"You like answering questions correctly. Just do it." James replied, bitterly. His old friend was missing in the sea of depression. He wanted to save him.

Remus sighed and turned back to the teacher. "The jelly-leg jinx is…..uh….."

Sirius raised a brow. "Remy, you know the answer. You've done the jinx before. Are you okay?"

Remus turned to look at Sirius nervously. "I don't know the answer."

The class was dead quiet, watching the four best friends. Remus always had the answer. He was one of the best in their year.

"Then I'll ask some…." Rana started.

Sirius snapped his eyes to his professor. "I'm not trying to be rude, ma'am. But he knows the answer. His depression is fogging his brain. He'll answer."

"I don't know the answer." Remus snapped.

"Yes, you do." James growled. "You've practiced the jinx on me. What does it do?"

Remus glared at James. "I don….."

James poked Remus hard in the chest. "Don't say it. Say the answer."

Remus clenched and unclenched his fists. He closed his eyes and thought for a moment. As soon as his eyes closed, Remus saw his father.

"_Hi Remus." Auva greeted._

"_What are you doing, dad?" Nine year old Remus asked, curiously. His father was hiding under the stairs with his wand out, as if waiting for something._

_Auva pulled Remus under the stairs. "I'm going to show you a jinx."_

_Remus smiled. He loved it when his dad showed him magic._

_They only waited for a few minutes before Lena was walking down the stairs. When she was at the bottom of them, Auva threw a spell at her. Her legs immediately wobbled and she fell over._

"_What was that?" Remus asked._

"_The jelly-legs jinx. Causing the victim's leg to become really weak and to fall over." Auva explained._

"_AUVA!" Lena yelled angrily, as she stood up._

_Auva smiled. "Time to run." He ran out of the house with his wife chasing after him._

_Remus laughed._

"It's causes the victims legs to become really weak and they fall over." Remus explained, smiling as he remembered the jinx. "The tarantallegra jinx forces another person's legs to dance uncontrollably. The knockback jinx knocks the victim back, blasts jars and creatures, and activates magically charmed switches."

Rana smiled. "Correct on all three. These jinxes are all simple. We will be practicing them next lesson. For now, I want you all to start reading up on them and do a three foot essay on jinxes with examples of different jinxes, what the jinxes do, their incantations, and the wand movement for the jinxes. Due next lesson."

The class groaned.

"Stop your complaining and get to work. You got thirty minutes left." Rana replied, happily.

"What's she so happy about?" James grumbled.

"She loves torturing kids with homework." Sirius mumbled. "Sadist."

James laughed. "Probably true."

Remus closed his eyes and rested his chin on his hand.

"Remus?" James questioned, slowly.

"_Uncle Auva died to save you because he loved you and wants you to continue living. If you're going to stay in your room and wallow in self-pity and quit Hogwarts, then his sacrifice was pointless. Do you want his sacrifice to be in vain? If so, stay here. If not, go back to Hogwarts. Go back to your friends."Jason said._

Jason, who was like an older brother to him, cared. He wanted Remus to be happy._  
_

_"I know that and I don't think he would be happy with you right now." Angel replied. "He would be upset to see his son starving himself and wallowing in self-pity the way you are. It's almost like he wasted his life by saving you, since you're slowly killing yourself like this. You need to eat and rest properly."_

Angel, who didn't have to, came to him on the train. She spoke to him like he was family. She cared for him and wants to help him.

_Lily hugged Remus after that. "I'm here for you."_

Lily, a friend to him. She didn't have to help him. She hated his friends, but she always talked with and helped him with homework after the full moon.

_Sirius clenched his fists. "No. One. Cares? Why the hell would you say something like that? We care, you bloody prat! Everyone who spoke to you about this cares! How can you say that we don't care? We're your friends! Do you know what that means?"_

Sirius made it perfectly clear that he cared for him.

_"Friends are like family. They are always there for each other. They never leave one of their friends alone. If their friend is hurt or severely depressed, friends will be there to help him or her. No matter what happens between friends, no matter all our faults, no matter our problems, no matter how many fights we have, no matter the hardships we face, we will always be there for one another." Sirius explained._

_James hugged Remus. "Friends are people who care for each other. They love each other like they were a family. We're brothers, Remus. We will always be here for you. Nothing is going to break us apart. We're brothers and we're here for you. We want to help you through this. Let people help you, Remy. Wallowing in self-pity isn't the way to deal with your father's death."_

James, Sirius, and Peter said that all four of them were brothers. They wanted to help him. _  
_

"Remus, are you okay?" James asked, quietly.

_Auva looked down at his son, who was sitting quietly in the living room. "Son, tomorrow's September first. Are you all packed?"_

"_Yep." Remus replied, nervously._

"_There's nothing to be nervous about. You'll do fine." Auva said, reassuring._

_Remus smiled slightly. "Thanks Dad."_

_Auva sat next to his son on the couch. "Maybe while you're at school, you can revert back to your troublemaker self that you buried years ago."_

"_I don't know about that." Remus said._

"_Come on. Troublemaker Remus is a lot of fun. And besides, breaking a few rules every now and then never hurt anyone." Auva replied._

_Remus snorted. "Except the people you prank."_

"_Well yeah, but they'll get over it." Auva responded._

Remus smiled a little at the memory.

"Remus?" Sirius asked. He turned to James. "He's smiling and it looks like a real smile."

James nodded his head, eyes wide.

"_Have a good Christmas, son?"Auva asked that night after dinner._

"_Yeah. It was great, Dad." Remus responded, smiling happily at his father._

_Auva laughed and ruffled his son's hair. "That's good. So, I hear that you've become somewhat of a troublemaker at school."_

_Remus grinned. "My friends are prankster and they are slowly reverting me back into one."_

"_Wonderful. That school needs some chaos." Auva replied. "It's always good to have some fun chaos going on."_

_The young wizard nodded his head._

"_Remus, will you promise me something?" Auva asked, suddenly turning serious._

"_What?" Remus inquired, slightly worried at the sudden change of mood._

_Auva grabbed his son's shoulders and looked him in the eye. "Promise me that no matter what, you won't change who you are. You will stay the same. You won't let anything change who you are. You'll stay this fun, happy boy."_

_Remus stared at his father, scared. "You're scaring me, dad."_

"_Remus John Lupin, promise me." Auva demanded._

"_I'm promise to never change, Dad." Remus said, gulping in fear. "What is this about?"_

"_Thanks son. I needed that." Auva replied, hugging his son._

"_Dad, what is this about?" Remus demanded._

_Auva ruffled his son. "It's nothing. I just needed the reassurance that my son would never change. I love you, son."_

"_I love you to, Dad." Remus replied, baffled._

"_So, these pranks I've been hearing about. Your teachers are being driven crazy." Auva said._

_Remus blushed. "Well, you know."_

"_Keep doing the pranks. The teachers need to loosen up some." Auva replied. He looked around the living room to make sure the coast was clear. When he was sure it was, he pulled his wand out and whispered a spell. A gift appeared under the tree. "I had to make it invisible so you mother wouldn't find it. Don't let her find this gift."_

_Remus smiled and opened the gift. It was prank supplies. "I understand why I can't show it to mom. She would freak out if she knew you were giving me this."_

"_Exactly. Don't let her find out." Auva replied, winking at his son._

Remus eyes snapped open. "Never change." He whispered.

"What?" Sirius asked.

Remus didn't reply. He just stared at his Defense book for the rest of the class.

No matter how hard James, Sirius, and Peter tried, they couldn't get Remus to talk to them. When the class was over, Remus ran out of the classroom before James, Sirius, and Peter could say a word to him.

"What the hell was that about?" Sirius grumbled.

Remus didn't show up for the rest of his classes that day. He didn't come to lunch either.

"Where is Remus?" James said anxiously that night at dinner.

Sirius looked around the hall. "I don't know. Maybe, he decided that he wanted to be alone. He did skip the rest of our classes."

Just as Sirius said this, Remus came running into the Great Hall, grinning. He slid into the seat next to Sirius. "Hi guys."

"What are you so happy about?" James asked. He found it weird that his friend, who was moping around and being all depressed, was smiling like no tomorrow. He was really happy to see Remus smiling for real this time since the smile reached his eyes, but it was still strange.

Remus's smile faltered for a minute and pain flashed in his eyes. It was only a minute before he smiled again. "You'll see. It took me the whole day to get set up."

James shrugged and went back to eating. Sirius and Peter did the same thing to. Remus grinned and started eating. While eating, he kept glancing over at the Slytherin table.

Sirius noticed this and smirked. "What did you do?"

Remus shook his head. "You have to wait to find out."

Remus took a small vial out of a pocket of his robe and drank it.

"What was that?" James asked.

"Just something I need." Remus answered, smirking.

James blinked and turned to Sirius and Peter. "This can't be good for anyone."

Students started to get up to leave the Great Hall since they were finished with dinner. As soon as they stood up, the students changed color and screamed in shock as they felt a small electric shock. Each time they took a step to leave, their skin changed to another color and they felt another small electric shock. Every ten steps the students took, a polka dot was added to their skin.

"Remus, please tell me that you didn't do that to everyone." James said, looking at all the students who were standing up, with their friends jumping to their feet to help their friends, only to join in on their friends' misfortune.

The young werewolf smirked. "Why would I leave anyone out of this fun?"

James's eyes widened and he jumped out of his seat. He instantly changed color and felt the small electric shock. Sirius and Peter stood up to and felt it. They looked at each. James is pink, Sirius is light purple, and Peter is red. As one, the three boys turned to glower at Remus, who was smiling innocently.

"That thing you drank. It was the antidote to this, wasn't it?" Sirius snarled. His eyes flashing dangerously.

"Of course. I would never fall for my own prank." Remus said, happily. He looked up at the Head Table to see the teachers standing up to see what was going on. "Look at the professors."

James looked at the teachers to see they were all different colors too. "You put this prank on the teachers to. Do you have a death wish?"

Remus frowned.

Sirius groaned and hit James in the back of the head. James was all pale and looking frantic. "Remus, I….."

Remus took a deep breath and exhaled. He smiled. "Relax James."

James and Sirius looked at each other and shrugged.

Professor McGonagall stalked down from the Head Table and looked all the students. "Who did this?" Her eyes ran over each student before landing on Remus, who was the only one still sitting and a normal color. "Mr. Lupin, would you like to say something?"

Remus grinned. "I've got nothing to say, Minnie."

"Mr. Lupin, what have I told you about that name?" Professor McGonagall asked, trying to stay calm.

"Something." Remus replied, eyes narrowed in thought.

Professor McGonagall frowned and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Mr. Lupin, are you trying to test my nerves?"

Remus tilted his head and thought. "I never thought about that."

Breathing out, McGonagall pointed to the Great Hall doors. "My office, Mr. Lupin. Students, the professors will fix this."

Remus looked like he was about to say something, but McGonagall glared at him so he shut his mouth. Sighing, Remus stood up and left the Great Hall, receiving many glares on his way out. He smiled and waved innocently at them before followed McGonagall to her office.

"So, Mr. Lupin, care to explain why you did this?" McGonagall asked.

"On Christmas, before the attack, my father asked me to promise him to never let anything to change me. He asked me to continue my pranks. He always liked them." Remus explained, staring at the ground sadly, tears filling up in his eyes.

McGonagall's frown softened and she sat down. She conjured up a chair for Remus. "Take a seat, Mr. Lupin."

Remus sat down, but kept staring at the ground as tears slid down his face.

"I remember your father. He was in his fifth year when I started working here. The instant I met him, I knew he was a troublemaker. Do you know how I figured that out?" McGonagall looked sadly at her student. "He pranked me. I started working here in December of 1956. He was in my first class I taught. The students were told ahead of time that I was coming. They had no idea of they were getting into when I became their teacher. They thought I would take their pranks easily like Albus."

Remus smiled slightly. "I guess you didn't have an impact on him. He always played pranks at home on my mom, cousins, uncle, and me."

"He's probably the one who taught you all about pranks." McGonagall said.

Remus nodded his head. "Yeah, but what he taught me didn't last long since I got bit. A few years after I was bitten, I started to stop doing pranks. I stopped them altogether because of my lycanthropy."

"Since you met Messrs. Black, Potter, and Pettigrew, you've been doing pranks every month." McGonagall replied.

"They got me back into them. I always thought I didn't deserve friends or to have fun because of my lycanthropy. But meeting them, makes me think otherwise, right now anyway. If they ever find out about my lycanthropy, they'll abandon me like everyone else." Remus said.

McGonagall frowned. "I see there are more problems here then just your father. You are afraid of being abandoned. You had your father always there for you to run to after you got betrayed by friends or people when they found out about your lycanthropy, right?"

Remus nodded his head. "He was always there. He always made me feel better after I got betrayed. No one else could do that. I don't know what I'll do if anyone finds about it. I'm so lost without my father. Whenever someone hurt me after they found out about my lycanthropy, he would get so mad and hex the person who did it, if it was a muggle, he would fight them the muggle way."

"What do you mean by hurt you?" McGonagall asked, bitterly at the thought of what it meant.

Remus's clenched his fists. "When people found out, they would hit me or fire a hex at me. They would be so scared of me. Some of them would come to our house and try to convince my parents to put me "out of my misery" as they say it."

McGonagall looked furious at this point. "How dare they suggest such a thing? And hitting a child because of something he can't help. It's not your fault that you have lycanthropy. I can't believe some people. I especially can't believe wizards behave like that. They can be so blinded when it comes to things people can't help."

The young werewolf bit his lip and wiped his face of the tears. He looked up at McGonagall. "Can I ask you something, Professor?"

"Go ahead, Mr. Lupin." McGonagall answered.

"If it wasn't for Professor Dumbledore accepting me into the school and explaining to the teachers about me not being dangerous and setting up the routine for me on the full moon, would you be as kind to me as you are now? I have a feeling that some of the teachers hate me because of it. They only put up with it because they can't contradict Professor Dumbledore about this." Remus accused.

Professor McGonagall looked aghast at Remus. "Mr. Lu-Remus, I can assure you that not everyone turns their backs on werewolves. They only become a werewolf twelve days a year. People fear werewolves on those days, but think they act like werewolves every day, so that's where all these prejudices come from. Still, not everyone thinks like that. What I see when I look at you is not a werewolf. I see a kid, who has had bad luck in life, but still a kid. I'm sure you'll find people in life, like Albus and me, who don't shun people with lycanthropy. Albus was a teacher of mine when I attended Hogwarts as a student. I picked up some of his beliefs. One of those beliefs is that werewolves are still people. If I met you before Hogwarts and knew about lycanthropy, I would have treated you like a kid, not a werewolf. But I probably would have given you pity. Not many kids have to deal with this. It's rare for a kid to be a werewolf."

"I don't want pity." Remus replied.

"Of course." McGonagall said.

The office door opened and Shawn came in, looking annoyed. He was covered in colorful boils that looked painful and was blue with polka dots everywhere. "Professor, no one can get this to end and when they try a spell to change us back to normal, we get boils."

"I tried to warn you guys not to try any spells or potions." Remus grumbled.

"Mr. Lupin, a week of detention for this. Now, I want you to fix this." McGonagall said.

Remus smiled. "It's going to take time to fix it. There's a certain potion to fix this, but I don't have it. I have to brew some. I made some earlier for myself, but not enough to fix everyone."

"How long will it take?" McGonagall asked, stiffly.

"I don't know. If I had help from someone, a few days." Remus replied, thoughtfully.

"Have Messrs. Black, Potter, and Pettigrew help you." McGonagall said.

Remus stood up. "Yes ma'am. Where would I find them, Shawn?"

"Great Hall." Shawn snarled, storming out of the office.

Remus smiled and followed him to the Great Hall. He was met with angry glares, which he smiled at. "James, Sirius, Peter, Minnie has ordered you three to help me make the antidote for this."

"Mr. Lupin, show respect to the professors." Professor Dumbledore reprimanded.

"Righty-o sir." Remus said, cheerfully. "James, Sirius, Peter to our dorm!"

The three friends mentioned groaned. "How can he be so happy?" Sirius grumbled.

"I swear we get revenge against him." James growled.

Remus smiled at them when they reached their dorm. He pull three vials out of his cloak and gave them to his friends. "That's the antidote for this potion."

The three boys drank the antidote. Their bodies changed back to their normal color and the polka dots and boils disappeared.

"That's all I had of the antidote." Remus said. "We need to make more."

"What was it that you used anyway?" James asked.

"It's something my dad gave me for Christmas." Remus replied quietly. "He gave me a whole bunch of prank supplies. What I used was pill that dissolved in the drinks. You saw the effects of it in the Great Hall. And if you try to use spells or the wrong potion to fix it, you get painful, colorful boils."

"So, you want us each to make the antidote, then put it in the drinks for breakfast tomorrow?" Sirius asked.

Remus nodded his head. "We probably need three cauldrons of it for everyone."

Sirius sighed. "Wonderful. Do we have the ingredients for the antidote?"

"We should." Remus replied.

"How many detentions did you get for this?" James asked, as he pulled his cauldron and ingredients out.

"A week." Remus answered.

The next morning all the students and teachers turned back to normal after drinking their morning drink.

"Hey Remus, if you're feeling better," James started uneasily, glancing at Sirius warily.

"We were wondering if you wanted-" Sirius added, wringing his hands together under the table. He looked distressed and kept looking away from Remus.

"To do a welcome back to school prank," James finished, pushing the food around on his plate with his fork, while he was looking Remus in the eyes a little afraid of his reaction.

Sirius frowned when Remus didn't reply. He just kept staring at them. "We know it's a little late, but we wanted to hold off on the prank because of what happened during the break. But you seem to be better, but then again I wouldn't know. I don't know what's going on in your head. How could I know? I'm not you, so I couldn't possible know…."

James hit Sirius in the back of the head. "You're rambling." He turned to look at seriously with his eyes shining with sadness and pain. "We know that you are having trouble adjusting with what happened to your father, but from the prank you pulled yesterday, we just want to know if you want to help The Marauders with the return prank."

Remus nodded his head absent mindlessly.

_Auva smiled down at his son. His eyes were shining with pain, sadness, and love. "Love you. Never change, son." He mouthed, before his eyes emptied of all emotion and he collapsed dead on top of his son._

"Never change." Remus whispered to himself, looking at Sirius and James. "Sure, why not? Got an idea?"

"Of course we do. Who do you think we are?" Sirius replied, grinning madly.

**A/N: Please review!**


	13. Chapter 13: Suspicions

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

**The Marauders Year 1**

**Chapter 13: Suspicions**

After two weeks of planning, The Marauders had their prank all ready. All the research for the prank, such as looking up spells, potions, and making sure nothing would go wrong so no one would get hurt was done by Remus. If any potions had to be made, they would be done by James or Sirius with Remus helping them. Peter was rubbish at potions; Remus was better than him and did good in the class, but James and Sirius were the potion masters of their group as they did the best in the class of the four. Peter, the least talented of the group, just threw ideas for their plans in and helped execute the prank at the end.

Since the prank was so late after their return, they decided to not sign the prank from the Marauders. People might suspect that the Marauders are them because of Remus's father being killed during the break, so they didn't perform the prank when the students returned because they were worried about Remus.

Remus was still sad about his father's death. Sometimes it was so bad that he was distant from everyone. He would go off to a corner of the common room, their dorm, or the library and just sit there, staring at nothing.

James, Sirius, and Peter didn't blame him for doing this. It was his father that died. They understood that he was incredibly upset over it and allowed him to go off into his mind on his own. Sirius found out that when he is brooding, Remus is thinking about the past when his father was alive. They quickly learned that when Remus was brooding, he was happy and didn't want to be pulled from his thoughts. After thinking about his father, Remus felt better. Thinking about all the wonderful things he did with his father made him happy. His father was a happy, fun, excitable man and Remus loved him for it. That was how Remus described him when his friends asked about him.

James, Sirius, and Peter ran into the common room two weeks later to find Remus sitting on a comfy chair in front of the fire place reading a book. Sirius sat on the couch with James and Peter.

"Remus, are you excited?" Sirius asked, practically bouncing with excitement the day before they were going to play their prank. He had a big grin on his face.

Remus grunted and continued to read. He was trying to relax. Tomorrow was the full moon. Even though he took the Minor Infirmus potion, Remus still felt the effects of the full moon approaching. He was annoyed that his friends had to do the prank on the day of the full moon, but his friends were really stubborn about doing it on this day. Remus couldn't blame them. They had to put it off a lot because of him. At least he convinced them to do it at lunch instead of dinner. He would have missed the prank if they did it at dinner and that would have sucked since this prank seemed really fun to do. It was going to one of their best.

James frowned. "Are you listening to us?"

Remus grunted again.

James rolled his eyes and pulled the book out of Remus's hands. "Remy, we're trying to talk to you. You know, it's quite rude to read when someone is talking to you."

The young werewolf looked up and glared at him. "You know, it's quite rude to bother someone when you can clearly see they are doing something else. Just cause you enter a room doesn't mean everyone has to give you their undivided attention."

Sirius barked out a laugh.

Remus turned to glare at him. "That means you to, Black."

Sirius stopped laughing and raised a brow. "Black? What's with you today? You never call us by our surnames."

"Nothing." Remus hissed and grabbed his book back. "I'm just in a foul mood today."

"You don't need to take your irritation out on us. We just wanted to talk with _our friend_." James replied, with emphasis on the last two words.

Remus growled and threw his book on the table. "Fine. What do you guys want?"

James frowned and crossed his arms. "I don't feel like telling you if you're going to make it sound like a chore to talk to us."

Remus glowered at him and picked his back up. "You really need to make your mind up." He growled, opening his book.

"Sheesh! You really made an effort there to talk with _your friends_." James snarled, angry flashing in his eyes. "You may be in a foul mood, but that doesn't mean you can ignore us."

"MAKE UP YOUR BLOODY MIND, POTTER!" Remus yelled raging mad, slamming his book shut and standing up.

The rest of the students in the common room looked up and watched the two yelling boys. They couldn't concentrate on what they were doing with all the yelling, so they figured they might as well watch the fight.

"What's up with James?" Sirius whispered to Peter. "He never loses his temper like this. He's supposed to be the calm, rational minded one."

"MAYBE IF YOU JUST MADE AN EFFORT!" James screamed, jumping out of his seat as well.

Peter shrugged. "Everyone explodes at times. Something might have happened before we met up with him in the corridor and came back here…."

"MADE AN EFFORT AT WHAT?" Remus snarled loudly, interrupting Peter.

"He might be taking his frustration of what happened out on the first person who irritated him more, in this case being Remus." Peter finished, before James could continue with the fight.

Sirius sighed. "Two angry boys. This won't go well. Should we intervene or let them get it out of their system?

"AT BEING A FRIEND!" James roared, fists clenching at his sides.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT NOW?" Remus yelled angrily, annoyed, and extremely confused.

Sirius and Peter looked at each other nervously. "Maybe we should stop this from going any further. I don't think I can take this yelling anymore. They are getting louder each time they yell."

"It's not just you. I think everyone else is having trouble with the yelling to." Peter replied, pointing at the other students in the common room.

"YOU KNOW BLOODY WELL WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!" James yelled, red in the face.

"NO, I DON'T!" Remus screamed.

Sirius sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'll take Remus, you take James. Calm him down and we'll meet behind the mirror on the fourth floor in half an hour."

"Why do I have to take James?" Peter asked, confused.

"He'll be easier to calm down. I'll take the harder one." Sirius answered.

Peter nodded his head and looked back at his two fighting friends. "They have their wands drawn. We better intervene now!"

Sirius drew his own wand. "Expelliarmus!"

James's and Remus's wands flew out of their hands and to Sirius, who caught them. He handed James's wand to Peter and pocketed Remus. After that he grabbed Remus's arm and dragged him away from James and passed Peter, stopping briefing to tell Peter to take James to the mirror room. He then dragged Remus to the library since that was one of Remus's favorite places in Hogwarts.

In the library, Sirius forced Remus to sit on the floor in the back of the library where hardly anyone went. He sat across from Remus and stared in the irritated boy's face. "You okay?"

Remus growled, a growl that sounded like a dog Sirius noted. "Okay? Who that hell does James think he is? Accusing me of not attempting to be friends with you guys? When have I ever attempted not to be your friend?"

"When we met on the train." Sirius answered calming, even though he had a raging boy in front of him that looked like he could tear him to sheds at the moment.

"Yes, but we're friends now. And he was accusing me of trying to not be friends anymore. How dare he?" Remus snarled, eyes flashing dangerously.

Sirius sighed. _'This is going to take time. I hope Peter is having better luck.'_

Peter sat on his bed nervously. James was pacing back and forth in front of him. "Why did you do that?"

"Do what?" James asked.

"Yell at Remus and accuse him of not being our friend. I think something happened with you in the corridor before Sirius and I met you." Peter elaborated.

James sighed and sat on the bed next to Peter. "I met Snivellus in the corridor."

"So? You just hexed him like you normally do, right?" Peter asked.

"Did you see Snivellus around me or me laughing at what I did to him?" James snapped. Peter flinched away. "Sorry Pete. I shouldn't take my anger out on you."

Peter frowned. "But you'll take it out on Remus?"

James shook his head. "He's the one I'm mad at. Anyway, Snivellus started talking to me before I could hex him."

"What'd he say?" Peter inquired.

"He said something about Remus's Aunt Margie. The bloody git was apparently eavesdropping on us when we were talking about her. He said that Remus was acting differently now with his father dead then he was when his Aunt Margie died. I was thinking the same thing, but I thought I was the only one to notice it. The fact that Snivellus noticed it to makes it worse." James growled.

Peter thought about Margie and frowned. "He said Aunt Margie was his favorite aunt, but he wasn't really all that upset when he got back from the funeral. But his father was killed in front of him. It might just be worse this time. No reason to yell at Remus."

James frowned. "It's not just that. Remus told me that his Aunt Margie worked at the ministry as an Auror. You know that my dad is Head Auror at the Ministry, right?"

"Yeah?" Peter replied, confused.

"I asked my dad about her and some of what she did for the Auror department." James said, glaring at the window. "He said that no one name Margie ever work at the Ministry, let alone the Auror department."

Peter frowned. "Are you saying that Remus lied?"

"Yes." James hissed angrily. "I want to know why he would lie like that."

"That's why you're angry at him?" Peter questioned, now looking a bit angry himself.

James nodded his head. "Where is Remus?"

"Sirius took him somewhere to calm him down. He told me to meet him behind the mirror in half an hour with you. We should go if we want to be in time to meet him and Remus." Peter replied, standing up. He handed James his wand back.

James took it and stood up. "Good. I get to hex little Remus now."

"Don't hex him. Talk to him calmly first." Peter replied. "Maybe your dad was wrong. We don't have all the facts yet."

"Remus is lying. I know it. He disappears every month." James growled.

"He didn't last month." Peter replied.

"He went home for Christmas. He even said he wanted to stay for Christmas, but couldn't, then looked at his calendar. Something is going on." James snapped back. "I'm going to find out what. You're going to help me, right?"

Peter rolled his eyes and left the dorm with James. "You could be wrong." At James's glare he continued. "How about this? If he disappears this month, I'll help you. And let's not tell Remus that we think something is going on. He'll get all mad and defensive."

James growled. "Fine, but we're keeping a record of when he disappears and what he tells us is his excuse."

"I didn't say I was going to help you just yet. I said IF he disappears this month, I'll help." Peter replied.

James sighed. "You right. We'll wait and see if he disappears. I guess I have to make up an excuse that Remus will buy for why I was yelling at him. Also, we won't tell Sirius any of this until Remus disappears this month."

"IF he disappears." Peter said.

"He will." James replied. Their conversation ended since they reached the mirror. Making sure they were alone, Peter and James entered the passage.

The torches in the room were already lit. They had added torches in there so they could have light when they came there to talk in private. They used a spell that Remus found that would light the torches.

In the center of the room, sitting on the floor, were Remus and Sirius, who looked bored out of their mind.

"Yo!" Sirius greeted. "Bout time you two got here. Now you can tell us why you are so mad at Remus, James."

James sighed and put his hands in his pockets. "Remy, I'm sorry for yelling all that stuff. I'm not mad at you. I was upset. I got into an argument with Snivellus before we came back to the common room and hexed him. Minnie showed up and gave me double detention for Saturday. I was annoyed because it means that I'm going to miss Quidditch on Saturday. I just took my anger out on you. I didn't mean anything I said."

Remus smiled and nodded his head. "No problem. I'm sorry too. I'm just not feeling well and it makes me irritated to not feel well."

Sirius looked at James suspiciously. What James said sounded more like a lie to him. He didn't see anything amiss when he saw James in the corridor.

James glared at Sirius. He knew from the suspicious look he was getting that Sirius didn't believe him. The glare told him to be quiet.

"So, is everything for the prank all ready?" Remus asked, missing the suspicious look from Sirius and the glare James gave Sirius.

"Yeah. We finished putting the spell on the suits of armor. Did you get your part set up, Remus?" Peter asked.

Remus nodded his head. "The house-elves were excited to give me something besides chocolate."

"What did you ask them to give you?" James asked, warily. Remus hadn't told them what he was going to get from the house-elves that was suppose to help them with the prank. He kept this part a secret.

Remus smirked. "Not telling."

The next day at lunch was hectic. It started out as a normal lunch. Students all around were enjoying their lunch, talking happily with their friends. That was until all the suits of armors that lined the hallways came into the Great Hall.

All the students stared curiously at the suits of armor. None of them had seen them walk before.

The suits of armor reached inside themselves and pulled out what looked like dung bombs.

James looked at Remus curiously. "Wha…"

"Just watch." Remus mouthed back.

The suits of armor pulled a stick out of the top of the object and threw them high in the air. When the objects hit the ground, they exploded. People in the area that the object exploded in, screamed. They were covered in jell-o and the smell of onions filled the hall, making people start to tear up.

"Damn Remy, that's evil. Why would you mix the smell of onions with jell-o?" Sirius replied, rubbing his eyes.

"All for the fun of torturing the students of teachers." Remus replied. He looked worse than everyone else because of his heightened werewolf senses.

"This is torturing us." James said, rubbing his eyes frantically.

Remus shrugged. "Oh well. At least a bomb hasn't hit us yet. It would be worse if that happened." Remus looked around the hall through his tear filled eyes. The students were screaming in annoyance at being covered in jell-o and crying at the same time from the smell of onions. The only people not covered in jell-o were the Marauders and the teachers. "Did you guys charm the suits of armor not to attack us?"

"Yeah, why?" Peter asked.

"We're going to get caught because of that." Remus answered, glancing at the teachers to see that they were looking at the four boys suspiciously.

"POTTER! BLACK! LUPIN! PETTIGREW!" McGonagall yelled angrily, stomping down from the Head Table.

The suits of armor turned their attention to her and five bombs went flying at her and the other professors, but especially McGonagall. When the explosion ended, McGonagall was standing there covered in blue, red, green, orange, and yellow jell-o, while crying from the onion smell. This was too much for the Marauders and they fell out of their seats laughing.

"STOP THE SUITS OF ARMOR AT ONCE!" McGonagall yelled.

Remus sobered up immediately, being the only one of his friends to do so, leaving him as the one to stop all the suits of armor. When he was done, Remus grabbed some jell-o off the floor and dumped it on each of his friends to get them to stop laughing.

"REMUS!" The three boys yelled angrily and tackled him to the ground, into a pile of jell-o behind him. They started wrestling in the jell-o.

That's as far as they got before McGonagall shot something in the air that made a big BANG sound. They stopped play-fighting and looked at McGonagall expectantly.

"You four." McGonagall looked furiously at them. "This….this…is."

"Ooooh. Look at that. Minnie liked our prank so much that she can't even form a sentence." Sirius said, smiling brightly.

"You're going to get us killed." Remus hissed in his ear. "Shut up."

"You four are going to clean this hall up tonight without magic, then you are each getting a month of detention." McGonagall hissed.

Remus paled and stood up. He looked at her nervously. "Professor, I can't come to detention tonight."

McGonagall glared at Remus.

The hall grew deathly silently. No one ever told a professor they couldn't go to detention because they had something else on their agenda. You especially didn't say it to McGonagall. It was like signing your death warrant.

"Mr. Lupin, you don't tell me when you can or can't go to detention. You will go when I assign it to you." McGonagall said, dangerously.

'_Did she forget what today is? She must have. Damn, this is going to be hard to explain without everyone finding out. Maybe I should wait….'_ Looking around the hall, Remus knew that wasn't a possibility. Everyone was looking at him expectantly. The teachers, Dumbledore included, looked amused as if they wanted to see how he got out of this without giving his secret away. _'Evil teachers. I can't back out now. That would make people think I was afraid. Damn. I'm picking up things from Sirius and James.'_

"Professor, you know I can't come tonight." Remus replied, trying to stay polite so he wouldn't get in more trouble.

"I do, do I?" McGonagall asked.

Remus scratched his head and looked up at the ceiling in thought. _'Need an excuse. A good excuse as to why I have to leave.'_

"Don't tell me you forgot?" Remus questioned back, trying to buy time as he thought up an excuse.

McGonagall raised a brow. "Please inform me of what I forgot, Mr. Lupin."

"How could you forget? You just informed me yesterday after class. I thought you of all people would remember being as clever and understanding as you are. Can't you let me out of detention tonight? You know, since m-my…..m-mother is severely ill and really upset f-from my," Remus gulped and closed his eyes. He was glad that he had added onions to the bombs. It helped him cry and people wouldn't realize that he is actually crying. "From my father's death. Please be considerate and let me out of detention. I really can't make it tonight. I know you have a kind heart under all the sternness. You wouldn't make me serve detention on the night I have to go home, would you?"

James looked at Peter pointedly and raised a brow as if to say 'See, I was right.'

Peter groaned. He didn't like snooping in his friends' business.

Realization crossed McGonagall's face half way through Remus's speech. She smiled. She saw what Remus was doing. He was putting an act on to serve all the students' curiosity at what was going on. And she, the stern, never give in McGonagall was going to have to bow down and lose for once. "Of course, Mr. Lupin. I'm terribly sorry. I completely forgot. So, let's say three weeks of detention for you. Your friends, on the other hand, are still getting a month and have to clean the Great Hall without magic."

Remus sighed. "Of course Minnie." And with that, Remus ran out of the Great Hall before McGonagall could say anything.

James, Sirius, and Peter stood up and ran out of the hall, following Remus to their dorm. They caught up to Remus when he reached their dorm. He disappeared into the bathroom to take a shower to get the jell-o off. Peter came into the bathroom and took the second shower stall. When they were done, James and Sirius took their own showers.

Remus sat on his bed, fidgeting and looking at his friends worriedly.

James grabbed his bag and looked at Remus. "We have to get to Double Charms. Are you okay?"

Remus looked up at James. "I'm sorry about leaving you guys alone to clean up that mess and getting out of a week of detention."

"Oh." James dropped his bag and walked over to Remus. He hugged Remus. "Don't worry about that. It's understandable. I'm sorry about your mom."

"Thanks." Remus whispered.

"Good. Now no more being worried about this. Time for Charms!" James declared, grabbing his bag and running out of the room.

Remus smiled and followed after his friends.

That evening, Remus left his friends in the Great Hall to clean it up so the students could eat dinner and went to the Whomping Willow. He told Madam Pomfrey he could go by himself that night. When he reached the trap door into the shack, Remus put his bag of clothes that he brought so his friends wouldn't be suspicious on the ground with his wand. After taking his shoes and school robe off, Remus climbed into the Shrieking Shack.

"We got Astronomy tonight." James said, as he cleaned up some jell-o off the floor.

"Oh joy!" Sirius muttered sarcastically. "I wish I could get out of it like Remus."

James glared at Sirius. "So you want your mother to be severely ill?"

Sirius smiled at that thought. "That would be wonderful!" Then he frowned. "But that's cause I hate my mother. It must be hard for Remus to have his mother really sick after his father died."

James gave a harsh, sarcastic laugh. "His mother isn't sick."

Sirius looked at James shocked, then turned to Peter. "What's with him?"

Peter sighed. "James, tell Sirius what you told me yesterday."

James explained the conversation he had with Peter the day before.

"You think he's lying to us?" Sirius asked, skeptically.

James nodded his head, then turned to Peter. "You said you would help me figure out what is going on if Remus disappeared this month. You have to help now."

Peter sighed. "Fine. What about you, Sirius?"

"I think you're both crazy. Remus wouldn't lie to us. We're his friends." Sirius replied, though he looked a little worried. "I'll help you guys, but if we don't figure anything out, we're going to apologize to Remus for not trusting him."

James smiled. "Thanks Siri."

"Look at that moon!" Peter exclaimed that night during Astronomy. "Too bad Remus can't see this full moon. It's so big this high up."

"He can see it next time." James replied, writing down the name of the star he was looking at through his telescope. "I really wish he didn't disappear today though."

"I know. He must have known he was going to have to leave today though." Sirius said, readjusting his telescope.

James looked up from his chart with a raised brow. "Why do you say that?"

"He kept trying to get us not to do the prank today. I guess he knew he was going to have to leave today." Sirius explained suspicion clear in his tone.

James frowned. "I wonder what it is that he isn't telling us."

Peter scribbled down on his chart. "Whatever it is, it has to be bad if he isn't telling us."

"Bad or not, we're still his friends. Whatever it is, he should trust us with it." Sirius growled, putting a hole in his chart with his quill by accident. "Damn it."

James laughed. "Nice Siri, nice."

Sirius grumbled to himself.

The wolf ran around the shack lost. It knew that its father was gone. He died after the last full moon. This made the wolf extremely upset. His father was the one who kept the wolf calm. He was always in the wolf's thoughts that helped keep him calm. Before Hogwarts, Auva was the one who helped him after the full moons and made Remus feel better with his jokes.

Now Auva was gone. The wolf was freaking out. Even at Hogwarts, Auva was with Remus and the wolf in spirit, helping Remus get through the transformation. That wasn't possible now. His father was gone and could no longer help him.

The wolf was going crazy with knowing that Auva was gone. It was running all over the house, attacking itself and everything around. It wanted to find its father. It didn't want it to be true.

The wolf howled in pain as it attacked itself.

"Did you hear that?" James asked, looking up from his star chart.

"That howl?" Sirius questioned.

"Yeah." James answered.

Peter paled. "You don't think it could be a werewolf, do you?"

"Of course not. What would a werewolf be doing around here?" Sirius replied, though his voice was full of uncertainly and fear. "It's probably just a wolf."

James smiled reassuringly. "Yeah, besides it can't get into Hogwarts. It's probably in Hogsmeade or something. It's fine."

Madam Pomfrey paled when she saw Remus the next morning. He was extremely pale, covered in more wounds then usually, and looked like he lost a lot of blood. She conjured a stretcher up for him and covered him in his robe. After grabbing his stuff in the tunnel, she took the young boy to the Hospital Wing and placed him in the private room in the back.

As she was working on his wounds, Remus started to wake up. He groaned and looked at Madam Pomfrey through squinted eyes. "I hurt a lot." He mumbled to her.

"This was a horrible moon." Madam Pomfrey replied, sympathetically.

"My chest hurts." Remus whispered. It hurt to talk loudly. His throat was hurting just as much as his body.

Madam Pomfrey examined his chest and pushed down on his ribs. This made Remus scream, so Madam Pomfrey immediately stopped. "Sorry. I think you have some broken ribs."

"Wonderful." Remus said through clenched teeth. "The wolf was really upset this month."

"Why?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

"Cause of my father being gone." Remus said slowly, trying to breath with his broken ribs was really hurting him. "The more upset or mad I am around the full moon, the worse the moon."

Madam Pomfrey smiled sadly. "Stop talking. I think you should stay here longer then you usually do. The soonest I'll let you out will be Monday, but even that might not happen. It depends on how you heal from now to then."

Remus groaned. "I hate hospitals, but it looks like I'm destined to live in one."

"What are you doing, James?" Sirius asked, watching his friend write in a brown leather book.

"I'm going to keep track of the days Remus leaves and his excuse for leaving, along with anything I find suspicious about what he says or does." James explained. "I'm going to use those spells he showed us to put a password on the book so he can't read it."

Sirius sighed. "You are taking this really seriously." He sat up on his bed. "What are the passwords?"

"To open it the password is Dare to Dream. To close it the password is R. J. Lupin." James explained. "He'll never guess that."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "What do you have so far?"

"He's disappeared four times during school so far. We don't know about December, but it's most likely he would have if he didn't leave for Christmas. Anyway, his first excuse was a sick mother, then his Aunt Margie was sick, then she died the next month. This month it was his mother is severely ill."

Peter looked up from his essay. "Did you notice that he eats very little around the time before he leaves?"

"The first time he disappeared, he didn't eat anything at all saying that he was queasy. He might be forcing himself to eat now so we don't notice anything is wrong." James said, frowning. He wrote down the observation in the observation section in the book. The first few pages were dedicated to the date he leaves and his excuse. "Did you guys notice anything else?"

"He's always irritable." Sirius answered, thoughtfully. "Always in a right foul mood before he leaves. He takes his mood out on us or releases his annoyance in pranks. He also seems weak to, like he has no energy."

James nodded his head and wrote both of those down. "I wonder when he's coming back. He's been gone for four days."

"Think of all the homework he's missing. I bet he's going to go camp out in the library and starve himself again." Sirius growled.

James slammed his book closed and locked it with the password. "Oh no, he isn't."

"What are you going to do to stop him?" Peter asked. "He won't copy our work. He hates copying."

"I'll find a way." James replied. "Come on, it's time for Quidditch. Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw!"

Remus sighed on Tuesday and looked at Madam Pomfrey as she checked his wounds. "Can I please leave? I'm bored here."

"How do you feel?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

"Bored." Remus answered.

Madam Pomfrey smiled. "Very funny, Remus. I was referring to your wounds. You still have a deep gash on your stomach that isn't completely healed. Your ribs seem better though."

"Broken bones are easier to heal with magic then the cuts I give myself because I got the broken bones from jumping down from the second floor and running into walls. They aren't actually werewolf wounds." Remus explained.

"You should have told me that sooner. I have a potion that could have helped a lot." Madam Pomfrey replied.

"Well, you told me not to talk." Remus said, grinning. "Can I have some chocolate? It helps me after the full moon."

Madam Pomfrey laughed. "I know that. You are always gulping it down while you're in here. If you're sure, I can let you leave today. Just be careful. You could tear this gash open again. It's not fully healed. Just drink this potion and you can leave. I go get you some chocolate while you drink it." She handed Remus the potion and left the room.

Remus drank the potion and made a face. He hated the potions he had to drink after the full moon. It was part of the reason he ate chocolate. Chocolate took the potion taste away.

After getting some chocolate frogs from Madam Pomfrey, Remus left the Hospital Wing. He went to his dorm to get his bag and head to Transfiguration, which he was late to since Madam Pomfrey made him late.

"Morning Professor!" Remus greeted happily, as he threw the classroom door open with a bang.

"Mr. Lupin, I would appreciate it if you entered my classroom like a normal student." Professor McGonagall snapped. "So, turn around, go outside, close the door, then come in like a normal student."

Remus looked at the door, then at McGonagall. "Seriously?"

McGonagall frowned and pointed at the door. "Now Mr. Lupin."

"Unbelievable." Remus grumbled. He left the classroom and closed the door. He knocked on the door and opened it. "Morning Professor."

"Good." McGonagall replied, nodding her head. "Now sit down."

Remus mumbled to himself as he sat in his seat in front of Sirius and James, next to Peter.

After class, James and Sirius burst out laughing. "Nice Remus. You annoyed McGonagall."

"I can't believe she made me do that." Remus grumbled.

"I can't believe you slammed the door open." Sirius replied, smirking. "You almost gave her a heart attack when you did that. She soooo wasn't expecting it."

Peter crossed his arms and pouted. "She's not the only one. I say about half the class jumped."

"You included." James said, smirking.

"Whoops." Remus replied, not sounding at all like he was sorry. "Anyway, can you guys give me all the notes and assignments I missed?"

James stopped walking and turned to Remus. He crossed his arms. "You have three days of work and today's work to catch up on. The last time this happened, you camped out in the library and practically starved yourself."

"Because I had to get the work done." Remus replied.

"We aren't letting you do that again." Sirius said. "We're going to give you the notes and work for one class at a time and we're going to help you get it all done. And you'll stop when we tell you to stop. We're not letting you over-work yourself this time."

Remus open his mouth to protest, but James glared at him, so he closed his mouth.

"Good boy," James replied.

Remus frowned, "Sirius is the dog here, not me."

"Hey!" Sirius snapped. "I'm not a dog."

"Your name is the Dog Star, so yes, you are a dog." Remus replied, smirking.

"I'm not a dog." Sirius kept grumbling the rest of the day.

**A/N: Please review!**


	14. Chapter 14: Valentine's Day

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

**The Marauders Year 1**

**Chapter 14: Valentine's Day**

"Remy, guess what?" Sirius screamed, pouncing on Remus in the common room.

Remus groaned under Sirius's weight. "Get off me, you big dog."

Sirius's eye started twitching. Over the past few weeks, Remus, James, and Peter started calling him a dog whenever they could as a joke to Sirius's name being the Dog Star. It was started to get to him. He grabbed Remus's shoulders and started to shake him. "I. Am. Not. A. Dog!"

"Sure, you aren't." Remus replied, pushing Sirius off of him. "You're a heavy dog."

James laughed. "Remus, Sirius looks ready to kill you. Maybe you should run."

"I did and look where that got me. Trapped in the common room with you three." Remus answered, ruffling his hair up with his hand. "Anyway, what are you so excited about, Sirius? The last time I saw you this excited was on your birthday when we gave you all that sugar."

Sirius's eyes lit up at the mention of sugar. "Sugar. Me want sugar!" He started jumping up and down excitedly.

"We're never giving you sugar again." James muttered.

Sirius pouted.

Remus rolled his eyes. "So, why are you excited?"

"Tomorrow's Valentine's day!" Sirius exclaimed, forgetting all about sugar.

James's eyes lit up and he grinned.

Remus looked at them confused. "So?"

The two boys looked at him shocked. Their mouths opening and closing, but no sound was coming out. James was the first to gain his wits back. "What do you mean by so? Valentines is great. You get all this chocolate from girls and they fawn all over you."

"You do realize we're only eleven and that you don't even like any of the girls that fawn over you." Remus pointed out.

"Yeah, but it's great to have girls fawning over us all day and giving us candy. If they want to delude themselves into thinking we're fall in love with them because they give us candy and cards, who are we to upset them by denying them the pleasure of giving them to us." Sirius replied.

Rolling his eyes, Remus grabbed his book off the table. "Lovely speech, Siri." He muttered sarcastically.

"Don't you like Valentines?" Peter asked.

"Not really. I think it's stupid. Guys makes girls delude themselves. It's so stupid." Remus mumbled.

James and Sirius gasped dramatically. "Hate it? That's just as bad as hating Quidditch. We must amend this!" James declared, standing up and pointing a finger at Remus. "When we are finished, you will love Valentines."

Remus's eye started twitching. He looked across the common room at Lily, who was sitting and talking with her friends and doing homework. "LILY!"

Lily looked up to see James and Sirius each grabbed one of Remus's arms. They started to drag him to the dorms. "Yeah?"

"Help me!" Remus screamed as he was dragged up the stairs.

Peter rolled his eyes and started to work on his charms essay.

"Pettigrew, what just happened?" Lily asked, a little worried.

"Don't worry, Evans." Peter replied. "Remus will be fine."

Lily rolled her eyes. "I doubt that. He just got kidnapped by Black and Potter."

"They've never killed him before. Why would they start now?" Peter replied, shrugging his shoulders. "I'm just glad it's not me they're going to torture."

Remus frowned at the betrayal from Lily and let himself be dragged to their dorm. "What are you guys doing?"

"We're going to give you a history of Saint Valentine's Day and why it is such a great holiday." James explained.

Remus snorted. "What could you possibly know about the day? You don't care about its history. You care about the girls and candy, nothing else."

James pushed Remus onto his bed and he and Sirius started pacing in front of him, throwing out facts about Valentine's Day. Their facts were merely what they were told as little kids and about their experience on Valentine's Day.

By the time the two were done with their stories and facts, Remus was ready to kill them. They forced him to seat through three hours of boring facts and stories. After he killed them, Remus was thinking of killing himself so he could forget all these boring stories and facts.

"I'm going to bed now." Remus said. He needed to get away from these stories.

"Okie-dokey." James replied, happily. "See you in the morning."

Remus groaned and climbed into his bed.

"WAKEY, WAKEY REMY!" Two excited voices yelled.

"Go away!" Remus said, pulling his blanket over his head.

"No, no, Remus. It's Valentine's Day and we have classes in an hour. Time to get up." Sirius voice said.

Remus mumbled something and buried himself in his blanket and pillow. "Stupid morning people."

James sighed and looked at Sirius. "The joys of waking up Remy."

"Let's just give him chocolate." Sirius replied. He opened Remus's nightstand and pulled a chocolate frog out of his hidden stash. He pulled the blanket off of Remus. "Want some chocolate, Remy?"

Remus turned over on his bed to see a chocolate frog hanging above his face. He grabbed the frog and ate it. "Thanks." He said, before rolling back into his pillow.

Sirius laughed and grabbed the back of Remus's shirt. He pulled him off the bed. "Get dressed, Remus. I want to go to breakfast. Peter left without us."

"Why?" Remus asked, rubbing his eyes.

"He got bored of waiting for you after fifteen minutes. You wouldn't wake up." James explained.

Remus grabbed his school uniform and climbed back onto his bed, pulling the curtains closed around his bed.

"Why do you think he always changes in private?" James whispered to Sirius.

Sirius shrugged. "Don't know. Hiding something maybe."

James snorted. "Wouldn't shock me. He hides a lot of things."

When Remus finished getting dressed, he grabbed his bag and ran out of the dorm, pass his two friends. He really didn't want to deal with them today. He knew from the conversation the day before that they both loved Valentine's Day.

James and Sirius laughed and ran after their friend. They caught up with him just as he was leaving the common room. James threw an arm around his shoulder. "Where are you going, mate? You left us up in the dorm alone. I guess you forgot we were there, right?"

Remus groaned. "I wish you were still there."

"What was that, Remy? I didn't hear you." Sirius smirked at his friend.

"Nothing."

"Okay. Anyway, it's Valentine's Day. I can't wait to see what the ladies got me." Sirius replied, throwing his arm around Remus's shoulders too.

Remus rolled his eyes. "Egotistic. Don't get why the girls like you so much."

Sirius smiled. "Don't worry, mate. There are many girls who like you to."

"Not what I meant." Remus said, sighing.

James and Sirius guided their friend to the Great Hall, smirking. Remus looked at them scared. "What did you two idiots do?"

"Remus! How dare you suggest we did anything?" Sirius asked, appalled.

James shook his head, frowning. "When have we ever done anything, Remus?"

Remus raised a brow. "Do you really want me to answer?"

Peter waved his friends over when the three got to the Great Hall. He was grinning at them. "Took you guys long enough."

"Remy was being difficult." James said, shaking his head amused.

Peter shrugged. "Guess it doesn't matter. It gave me time."

Remus, who was staring at his plate, looked at Peter with narrowed eyes. "Time for what? What are you guys planning?"

Peter smirked. "A little surprise."

"I'm out of here." Remus jumped out of his seat to leave. He barely took two steps before he heard a blast behind him. Against his better judgment, Remus turned around to see what was going on and instantly regretted it.

Valentine fireworks were going off. Red and pink hearts filled the air. The word love was being repetitive spelled in the air. What really freaked Remus out was that his friends were smirking at him so that meant something more was going to happen to him and he didn't want to be here when it happened.

Remus went to move to leave, but found that he couldn't move his legs. He glared at Sirius to see him pointed his wand at him. "Sirius let me go, now."

Sirius smirked and shook his head no. He pointed at the fireworks, so Remus looked up to see them ending their show in the air and coming towards him. His eyes widened and he was engulfed by the fireworks.

"He's going to kill us." Peter said, smiling brightly.

A second later the fireworks turned onto James, Sirius, and Peter. Their eyes widened as they were engulfed by the fireworks. Remus stood smirking at his friends, perfectly fine.

When his friends reemerged from the fireworks, they all had pink hair and had pink clouds floating above them with pink and red sparkles raining on them.

Remus crossed his arms and raised a brow. "Seems your plan backfired."

"Remus!" James yelled. "How did you do that?"

Remus smirked. "It's not hard."

The hall burst out laughing at the three friends. "Nice one, Remus!" Lily yelled at him.

Remus smiled at her, completely forgetting about her betrayal the night before. "Thanks Lils."

"This isn't over, Rem!" James screamed as he stomped out of the hall with Sirius and Peter. "Just you wait. We will get you back one of these times."

"That was fun!" Remus said, sitting next to Lily.

Lily smiled at him. "I don't get it. They can pull pranks on everyone, but whenever their target is you, the prank backfires. How do you do it?"

"Lily, you forget. I share a dorm with them and I used to be a prankster when I was younger. And my dad…used to always pull pranks on me and my mom." Remus took a few breaths to calm the tears filing up in his eyes. Lily put a comforting arm around him. "I know all the signs of someone about to pull a prank and who the target is going to be. They need to learn to be more sneaky if they are going to target me."

Bilius laughed as he came over. "You know those three aren't going to rest until they get revenge against you."

"I think it's more of the Oompa Loompa prank they want revenge for." Remus replied, smirking.

"They haven't gotten revenge for that prank yet?" Bilius asked.

"Nope. And they never will." Remus answered. He grabbed his bag and stood up. "I have to get to class. See ya!"

In the corridor, Remus was approached by a shy Ravenclaw girl in his year. She had long, curly brown hair and blue eyes. "Hello Remus."

"Hi Lola. Want to walk to class together?" Remus asked, kindly. They had their first class together.

Lola smiled. "Sure."

"So, what can I do for you?" Remus asked, smiling.

"Well, I just wanted to give you something." Lola said, pulling out a small wrapped gift.

Remus's smile faltered slightly. One of the reasons he hated Valentine's Day. Hurting girls' feeling. Not wanting to be mean, Remus took the gift from her. "Thanks Lola." He opened the gift to find chocolate and a card. "Chocolate! You're the best." He gave her a quick hug.

Lola chuckled and blushed heavily. "I heard you like chocolate. I didn't know you liked it that much."

"I love chocolate." Remus said.

The two kids entered the classroom and went their separate ways. Remus went to sit with his friends, who were glaring at him. "I see you still have pink hair and sparkles raining on you. How long until it goes away?"

"Twenty-four hours." Sirius growled.

Remus saw Sirius and James had a pile of cards, chocolate, and gifts piled in front of them. "I see it doesn't stop the girls from giving you gifts."

"What were you doing with Lola?" Sirius asked, ignoring what Remus said.

"She was giving me a gift." Remus answered bitterly.

Sirius raised a brow at Remus's tone. "How is that bad? She's really hot. You should be happy that she gave you a gift."

Remus glared at him. Sirius wouldn't understand. No one could. Being a werewolf, Remus knew he could never have a relationship with anyone. He would just end up hurting them in the end. The second reason Remus hated Valentine's Day. He could never have a relationship with anyone. No one wants to date a werewolf. Valentine's Day just reminded him of that when he saw all the happy couples.

"What did she give you?" James asked.

"Chocolate." Remus replied.

James smiled. "That's nice of her."

"Good morning class and Happy Valentine's Day." Professor Rana greeted when she came into the class. She smiled at them all. "I hope you are all having a good Valentine's Day so far."

Professor Rana looked at each student. Her eyes stopped on James, Sirius, and Peter. "Can you three do something about the clouds? You're getting sparkles all over my floor."

"We have the clouds for twenty-four hours, Professor." James said, glaring at the smirking Remus. "Just you wait, Remus. You won't be smirking for long."

"We'll see about that, Jamie." Remus replied, eyes sparkling with amusement.

James's eye twitched. "Don't call me that."

"Why not, Jamie? Don't you like the name?" Remus asked.

"Remus." James growled through clenched teeth.

Remus smiled innocently. "Yes Jamie? What can I do for you?"

Sirius looked between his two friends. "Remus, I think James is going to kill you if you don't stop, but I on the other hand, love the name."

James turned his glare to Sirius. "Don't even start with it."

"But Jamie, it's such a nice name." Sirius said.

"I hate you guys." James said, burying his head in his arms.

Professor Rana laughed. "Enough you three. It's time for class."

"Yes ma'am." The three boys said. Remus turned back around to face the front of the class.

Peter, Sirius, and James pulled out their enchanted parchments they got from Auva.

_Do you have any idea of how to get Remus back?- PP_

_I'm working on a plan right now.- SB_

_What do you have so far?- JP_

_Chocolate, a tutu, bunnies, perfume.- SB_

_Whatever you are planning sounds good.- JB_

_I'll tell you guys tonight.- SB_

Remus chuckled and shook his head. His friends were idiots. He put his enchanted parchment away and started to take notes.

After class, Remus left with his friends, but stayed a few feet away from them so he wouldn't get sparkles on him. He smiled at his friends. "You guys look so glittery."

"You're pushing it, Remus." Sirius said, eye twitching.

Remus laughed. "I'm pushing it? You guys are the ones who tried to do this to me. So, tell me, when did you guys plan this?"

"Last night after we told you all our wonderful stories about Valentine's Day," James replied. "You went to bed and we thought we should make a plan to make this day even more special for you."

"You guys do know that I was a prankster when I was younger. I know the signs of someone going to pull a prank. You can't prank me." Remus said, smirking at his friends.

Sirius glowered at him. "That's going to be your downfall."

Remus rolled his eyes. He looked at some Slytherins, recognizing one of them as Severus, as they passed them going in the opposite direction. "Instead of pranking me, how about a Code 34?"

James's eyes lit up and he stopped walking. He tackled Remus to ground as he hugged him tightly. "You have a prank idea?"

"What's a Code 34 again?" Peter asked.

"It's new prank idea against the Slytherins." Sirius whispered, after making sure no one was around them to overhear them.

"James?" A quiet female voice asked, nervously.

James looked up from hugging Remus to see a second year girl from Hufflepuff, smiling shyly at him. Remus tipped his head back to look at her and blushed. "Hi Rava." Remus said, closing his eyes.

Rava frowned. "Is something wrong, Remus? You're all red in the face."

Remus shook his head and kept his eyes closed. James laughed when he figured out why Remus had his eyes closed. "Don't worry about him. What did you need me for?"

"Well, I wanted to talk to Remus, but I saw you had him pinned to the ground. Can you let him up, please?" Rava asked.

James grinned. "Sure."

Remus brushed all the sparkles off himself as he stood up, still blushing. "So, what did you need Rava?"

Rava blushed this time. She pulled out a pink card that had a heart on it. "Happy Valentine's Day Remus."

Remus smiled slightly and took the card. "Thanks Rava."

Rava nodded her head and smiled before running away.

Remus heard snickering behind him and turned to see his friends grinning at him. "Awww. Does our little Remus have a crush?"

"So, what color are her panties?" James asked, grinning.

"Shut up." Remus growled, blushing heavily. He stomped away from his friends

"Awww. Come on, Remy. I was just joking." James smirked and ran to catch up with his friend, only to slip on all the sparkles on the ground and fall on his face. Remus looked back when he heard the thud and raced back to his friend.

Sirius and Peter snickered. "You okay, Jamie?"

Remus pulled James up to see his face bleeding and his glasses broken. "Nice James, nice." Remus picked up the broken pieces off the ground and helped James stand up. "Sirius, tell Professor Flitwick that I took James too the Hospital Wing."

"Sure thing, mate." Sirius said. "Then when you guys get to class, you have to tell us your Code 34."

"Whatever." Remus replied, pulling James to the Hospital Wing.

Madam Pomfrey looked up when the two boys came into the Hospital Wing. She sighed and motioned to a bed for James to sit down. "What happened this time?"

"James fell on his face and broke his glasses. The glasses cut his skin. I can't fix his glasses because I think there is some glass in his cuts." Remus explained.

Madam Pomfrey nodded her head and started to work on getting the glass out of James's cuts. After she got all the glass out, she went to get him a potion to heal the cuts. While she was doing that, Remus repaired James's glasses and cleaned the blood off of it. He gave James his glasses, as Madam Pomfrey came back with the potion. After drinking the potion, James thanked her and pulled Remus out o the Hospital Wing.

"James, where are we going? We have Charms." Remus asked, frowning as James pulled him into a broom closet.

"I didn't slip on the sparkles." James growled, sitting on the floor.

Remus blinked and tilted his head to side confused. "You pulled me into a closet to tell me that? We have to get to class, James."

"Remus, sit down and listen to me." James said, pulling his friend into a sitting position.

"You're getting sparkles on me." Remus growled, pushing James away from him. "What's so important that you had to drag me into a closet? I'm sure it could have waited until after class."

James shook his head. "Someone cast a trip jinx on me. That's why I fall. I bet it was Snivellus. He was one of those Slytherins that passed us before Rava showed up. I bet he was waiting to trip me. We need to get revenge against him."

"We? Don't you mean you and Sirius? I don't want involved in this." Remus said. "Pranks I can handle. But this is bullying, James. Leave me out of the feud."

James glared at him. "It isn't bullying. He started it. We're going to get him back. You're a Marauder, Remus. He started the war. We're going to win the war."

Remus groaned and banged his head against the wall. "I don't see why you got to pick on Snape."

James tackled Remus to the ground. "Don't call him his name. We shall never call that greasy git by his name. And if you keep calling him his name, I'm making it a Marauder Rule that we can't call him by his name."

"James, you're just mad because Snape got the better of you this time." Remus said, pushing James off of him. "And stop tackling me."

"Stop calling Snivellus his name." James growled.

Remus glared at James. "Stop being immature and calling him that ridiculous nickname. It's no wonder he jinxed you."

"Are you taking his side?" James growled.

Remus held his hands up in defense. "No. I'm just saying that if you continue to call him that, Snape's going to really hate you. As it is, he already doesn't like you for being Gryffindor. The nickname makes it worse. It's probably why you got jinxed."

"Sounds to me like you're taking Snivellus's side in this matter." James growled.

"I'm not taking his side. I'm just saying maybe we should leave Snape alone." Remus replied, frowning.

James's eye brow twitched. "That's it." He pulled out his enchanted parchment.

Remus rolled his eyes and stood up. "I'm going to class. We'll talk about this at lunch."

"Remus, wait." James said, pulling his wand out.

The young werewolf sighed and turned around to face James to find a wand being pointed at him. "Petrificus Totalus."

Limbs snapping together, Remus fall over. James nodded his head happily and put his wand away. "We're talking about this now. Just need to get Sirius and Peter here."

_Sirius, Peter, sneak out of class and come to the broom closet on the fourth floor near the Hospital Wing.- JP_

_Why? What's going on?- PP_

_Code 44.- JP_

_We're on our way.- SB_

James put his parchment away and took the charm off of Remus. "Sirius and Peter are on their way."

Remus rolled his eyes and rubbed his head. "Whatever it is you're doing, I want no part. I'm not joining you in this stupid war game against Snape."

James's grabbed Remus's arm before he could run out of the closet. "Remus, you're a Marauder. Marauders stick together and helped each other. And stop calling Snivellus by his name."

A knock sounded on the door. "James, you in there?"

"Yeah, come in." James said.

The closet door opened and Sirius and Peter came in. "What's going on?" Sirius asked, closing the door and sitting down.

"How'd you get out of class?" Remus asked, pulling his arm free.

"Ten dung bombs. The classroom stinks now." Peter answered, wrinkling his nose.

James grinned. "Nice. Anyway, when I fell earlier it was cause of a trick jinx from Snivellus."

"You don't know that it was him." Remus snapped. "You're just assuming."

"I did see him pass us by." Sirius said. "So, you called us out of class because Snivellus tripped you?"

"Not just that. Remus, here, is siding with him and calling Snivellus by his name." James said, seriously.

Sirius's eyes flashed to Remus. "YOU ARE WHAT?" He screamed tackling Remus to the ground and pinning him them. "Don't ever say his name. He's evil! And how dare you side with him over your friend?"

"I'm not siding with him. I was just saying that you don't know if it was Sna….." Remus stopped talking as a hand was slammed over his mouth, making him bite his tongue.

"That's a bad name. Don't say it." Sirius scolded. He turned an angry glare to James. "This is serious. You should have called us out of class sooner."

Remus rolled his eyes and squirmed under Sirius's weight, trying to get free. "Siri, get off me."

"Marauders, we must get Snivellus back and get Remus to stop saying his name." Sirius declared.

"Aye!" James and Peter agreed, pumping fists in the air.

Remus groaned. "How about this? We use my Code 34 as your revenge?"

"That's good for now. What's your Code 34?" James asked, motioning to Sirius to let Remus up.

"We have to wait until tomorrow night until we can start work on it." Remus started, looking at the pink clouds floating above his friends' heads and their pink hair.

"Why?" Sirius whined.

"The sparkles would give us away." Remus answered.

James blinked and looked at his friend confused. "What are we going to do?"

Remus smirked. "We're going to follow a Slytherin to their common room so we can find it."

Sirius smirked. "I like where this is going."

Remus explained his plan to his friends. When he was finished, they were all smirking.

"Brilliant." James breathed out. "This is why you're a Marauder."

"So, we're going to pull the prank tomorrow night. We need to find their common room then. Remus, you can do that today." Sirius said.

"Why do I have to?" Remus asked.

Sirius motioned to the pink clouds. "We have clouds and sparkles. We can't do it without being spotted. James can let you borrow his invisibility cloak and you can follow some Slytherins around."

"We can do it tomorrow." Remus said.

"We can, but it's best to try to find it today since we might not be able to find it tomorrow." Sirius replied.

Remus sighed. He looked around at the sparkles that were starting to fill the closet. "Fine, but let's get out of this closet now. I don't like being buried in sparkles."

James glared. "Try getting rained on by the sparkles."

"I'd rather not." Remus said, standing up. "Great, now I'm covered in sparkles."

Remus walked over to the door with difficulty since his feet were completely buried in the sparkles. "Stupid sparkles." He grumbled as he threw the door open and fall out onto his face. He lost his balance as soon as his feet were free.

James, Sirius, and Peter tumbled out of the closet too and all of them fell on top of Remus, who groaned from the weight that landed on him. "Gerroff me. Can't breathe."

"Sorry Remy." Sirius said, as he rolled off the pile.

When he was free, Remus looked up to see a bunch of older students walking pass them, giving them strange looks. "Great. We missed the whole lesson." Remus grumbled, rubbing his ribs.

"That means it's lunch time. Let's go get the cloak so Remus can find the common room." Sirius said, dragging Remus away from the closet. "You're going to have to work fast, Remus. We're going to only be able to hold McGonagall off for so long."

Remus stared at him confused. "Where does McGonagall come into this?"

James slung an arm around Remus's shoulders. He shook his head slowly while smiling. "Remus, Remus, Remus. We missed Charms completely. Sirius and Peter threw dungbombs in the class and snuck out. Flitwick is going to tell Minnie, then she's going to come looking for us."

"The next seven years are going to be hell. Why am I friends with you three?" Remus grumbled to himself.

James tossed the cloak to Remus, who threw it over himself. He followed his friends down to the Great Hall where he waited for a group of Slytherins to follow. His friends sat down and were beginning to fill their plates with food when McGonagall came over to them, hands planted on her hips and glaring at the three of them.

"Messrs. Black, Potter, Pettigrew, what is this I hear about you and Mr. Lupin skipping class?" McGonagall asked, glaring at the three boys. "And where is Mr. Lupin?"

Remus kept his eyes on the Slytherin table, but stayed listening to McGonagall and his friends talk.

Everyone in the hall looked at McGonagall, but when saw who she was speaking to, they turned away and went back to their conversations. It was no new news to see the Marauders getting yelled at. At first it was entertaining with the cheeky responses from the Marauders, but now it was old news.

The Marauders (James and Sirius mostly) did not like that. They liked being the attention of the students. They had to get the students' attention back on them.

"Well, I don't know where Remus is. He could be anywhere, Minnie." Sirius replied.

"Yeah, he doesn't need us to hold his hand and be with him every minute of the day." James said, smiling brightly. "He's a big boy."

Remus rolled his eyes at his friends' antics.

"Why did you skip class?" McGonagall asked, ignoring the smartass replies.

"Well, Peter and I didn't actually skip. We were in class for about half an hour, ma'am, then we snuck out. James and Remus, on the other hand, never made it to class." Sirius said, looking at his professor with a straight face. "And as you can see, Remus isn't here. I think something must have happened to him. He could be in serious trouble! Maybe Snivellus has gotten to him. We must save him!"

Sirius jumped out of his seat and ran out of the Great Hall, leaving a greatly confused Professor McGonagall staring after him.

Remus snickered as Sirius ran pass him and out of the Great Hall.

"We are off to save Remus, the wonderful wizard of Hogwarts!" James sang, chasing after Sirius with Peter following.

McGonagall opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to gain her wits back. After a minute, she shook her head and went back to the Head Table, silently deciding to deal with them later when she had all of them together. Remus would be able to keep them from running away.

At the Gryffindor table, the students were laughing. "That was new." Bilius said to his friend, Jake.

Jake was a fellow seventh year, but looked like a punk. He was a muggle-born wizard, who had long brown hair that he had tied in a ponytail and had one of his ears pierced with a dragon fang. His blue eyes were shining with mirth. "I've never seen them run away from a scolding teacher." Jake added, smirking. "Did you see McGonagall's face?"

"It was great. I can't believe they can get away with calling her Minnie." Bilius replied, shaking his head while smiling. "They're going to get it later."

Remus didn't hear anymore as a group of Slytherins stood up at that moment and left the Great Hall. Remus followed them to see them out of the Great Hall and into the Entrance Hall. They went down into the dungeons, so Remus decided to follow them, guessing they would be heading to the common room since there was still forty minutes left of lunch and Slytherins wouldn't be heading to class that early.

Remus followed the Slytherin deep into the dungeons. After ten minutes of walking, the group stopped in front of a brick walled. For a few seconds, Remus thought the group made a wrong turn. That would be his luck to follow a group of idiots, but that thought disappeared when one of the Slytherins said "pureblood" and Remus muttered "figures". The bricks moved and a passage opened up. The Slytherins disappeared into the passage and Remus took off back to the Great Hall.

When Remus was in the Entrance Hall, he made sure he was alone before pulling the cloak off. He stuffed the cloak in his bag and stood there clueless. He had no idea of where to go now. His friends took off and he didn't know where they were going.

Shrugging, Remus went into the Great Hall and paled at what he saw. He saw his three friends standing in front of a red, pink, and white McGonagall, who was yelling loudly at them. "I was only gone twenty minutes." He mumbled. "How could they have done this in twenty minutes? Where did they even get the paint?"

The Great Hall was covered in red, pink, and white paint, along with the students and teachers, who didn't look happy at all. Only a few students weren't covered in paint, and Remus bet those students were wishing they were covered in paint instead. Remus would have to guess that all those students were Slytherins. They were floating in the air and were only wearing diapers and had fake wings on, and were holding a bow and arrow.

"How did they even do that and what is with the paint?" Remus grumbled. He stalked over to his friends, who were standing at the front of the Great Hall in front of the teachers. "OI, Black, Potter, Pettigrew! How dare you leave me out of the fun?"

James, Sirius, and Peter turned around and grinned at Remus. "We'll be more considerate next time, Rems, but you seemed kind of busy at the time."

"So, care to tell me what is with the paint?" Remus asked, looking at the mess.

"Well, the ugly cupids here fired some arrows we gave them. The arrows exploded upon contact with the floor, ceiling, table, and people, which covered everyone in paint." Sirius explained, smiling.

"You know, you guys are probably going to have to clean this place up for your detention. And I'm guessing, from McGonagall's red face, that you just lost about fifty points each and got what, two or three weeks of detention." Remus replied, frowning.

Sirius's eyes widened. "NOOOO!"

Remus jumped in surprise from the yell. "What are you yelling about?"

James exchanged a fearful look with Sirius and Peter. "This is bad! We must fix this!"

Remus looked at his friends strangely, before turning to McGonagall. "What are they talking about?"

"No idea, but you Mr. Lupin, is also in trouble." McGonagall said.

"I had nothing to do with this." Remus replied, motioning to the Great Hall.

"That much is obvious. If you did, I would guess that they would not have been caught. But that is not what I'm referring to that. I am referring to you ditching Charms." McGonagall said.

"To be fair, that wasn't my idea. I got kidnapped after I took James to the Hospital Wing." Remus replied, looking at his friends fearfully, because they had their heads together and were talking quietly and quickly. "How about this fifteen points from me and a detention tonight? Okay, thanks." Remus didn't wait for a reply as he bolted from the Great Hall. Whatever his friends were planning, Remus wanted no part.

James looked up as he saw Remus turn around and run. "REMY-POO, GET BACK HERE!"

Remus blushed heavily at the name that James gave him. Everyone in the Great Hall burst out laughing.

"Honestly, I don't know why that boy puts up with you." McGonagall said, shaking her head.

"No time for chit-chat, Minnie. We have a Code 93!" Sirius replied, waving an impatient hand at McGonagall.

McGonagall blinked. She was so confused about Code 93, she didn't even think to reprimand him for calling her Minnie. "Code 93? What is that?"

"No time, Minnie. We must save Remus!" James said, running out of the Great Hall with Sirius and Peter. "OH REMY-POO, WHERE ARE YOU?"

The Great Hall burst into laughter again when they heard James yelling. "Poor Remus." Angel said, shaking her head.

"Those four are crazy." Shawn added, laughing.

"They make life at Hogwarts interesting, though." Bilius pointed out.

"That they do." Shawn replied.

Remus pulled the cloak over himself and walked to the kitchen for lunch. He didn't want his friends to spot him so he wore the cloak. He knew he couldn't avoid his friends forever, but hopefully he could avoid them long enough that they would forget whatever scheme they thought of and leave him alone.

After lunch, Remus had a free period. So, he spent this time roaming the castle under the cloak so no one would see and yell at him, especially his friends.

An hour later, Remus's free period ended and he had to return to class. Remus knew his life was over when he reached Greenhouse two and saw his friends beat him to class. All three of them wore evil smirks that were directed at him.

Remus began to sweat and looked around for a way to escape from his friends. He didn't find an escape route fast enough as his three friends came over to him and he was forcibly dragged away from Greenhouse two by his friends.

Sighing, Remus looked at Sirius, who was holding his right arm tightly, than at James, who was holding his left arm just as tight as Sirius. "What's going on, guys? We're supposed to be in Herbology right now."

"We're going to skip Herbology." Sirius explained.

Remus groaned. "Why? We already skipped Charms today. We're going to get into more trouble."

"That's the point." James replied.

"What?" Remus asked, confused. He looked between his friends, blinking.

James sighed and looked at Remus like he was stupid. "What happened when you came into the Great Hall after we pulled the prank?"

"I spoke with Minnie before getting the heck out of there." Remus answered, getting more confused by the minutes.

Sirius sighed. "It's about what you said. You knew what McGonagall punished us with and chose your own punishment for skipping Charms."

"You were basically acting like a Prefect." James continued.

"We can't have a friend acting like a Prefect." Peter finished.

Remus raised a brow. "I wasn't acting like a Prefect."

"Yes, you did. You knew what our punishments were. We have to fix this." Sirius said, pulling Remus and James down another corridor.

"Okay, I'll play along. If I was, as you say I was, acting like a Prefect, how do you plan to fix it?" Remus asked, pulling his arms free from Sirius and James. He crossed his arms and looked at them critically with a raised brow.

"That is exactly how a Prefect would look at us if we were doing something wrong." Sirius pointed an accusing finger at Remus, before turning to Peter and James. "It's worse than we thought it was. We have to work fast before the transformation into a Prefect is complete."

Remus shook his head. "First Library Disease, now this. Why do I have to deal with this stuff?"

"This Code 93 is really bad." James nodded his head, while rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"What's a Code 93?" Remus asked.

"Our dear friend, Remus J. Lupin, is starting to act like a Prefect." Sirius said, dramatically.

Remus started pacing in the corridor, while his friends leaned against the wall watching him. "So, you think I'm starting to act like a Prefect, which I'm not. I've just dealt with the punishments for the last five months so I know what they are. But you think I'm acting like a Prefect and you decide to fix it by dragging me away from class. You think skipping class will change a Prefect from being a Prefect. Skipping class will just anger a Prefect and he or she will punish you for dragging said Prefect out of class. But none of this really matters since I'm not acting like a Prefect nor will I ever be a Prefect."

Sirius turned to look disbelieving at James. "Not only is he acting like a Prefect, but he also acts likes a professor."

James nodded his head. "Professor Lupin mode. This mode isn't that bad. It might save us one day. Anyway, we must crush Prefect mode Remus. That is a bad mode."

"Can we just forget this for now?" Remus pleaded, looking up and down the corridor for teachers. "We have class and a prank to set up for tomorrow. We already got detention tonight that is going to put us back on planning the prank."

"So, let's use this time to plan the prank. Herbology is our last class today, so we have time until our detentions to plan the prank." James replied.

Remus raised a brow skeptically. "Oh, really? Minnie will come looking for us as soon as Sprout tells her that we ditched for a second time today. So, where do you suggest we plan the prank so Minnie won't find us?"

"Behind the mirror, of course, Remy-poo." Sirius smirked.

Remus growled. "Don't call me that, Siri-kinies."

Sirius's eyes widened and he growled. "Well, don't call me that. Jamie-kins was the one who started this."

"Don't call me that, Siri-kinies." James snarled.

Peter watched his three friends glaring at each other. He wanted to get out of there since it looked like they were ready to duel each other over the names. He stayed where he was though, since the three were his friends and they wouldn't purposely hurt him.

All three angry boys had their wands drawn. James had his pointed at Sirius. Sirius had his pointed Remus and Remus's was pointed at James. They started throwing spells at one another and dodging in the corridor. Their spells hit the suits of armors and walls. The suits of armor changed color, shrunk, started to grow hair, and lots of other things happened. The walls were being blown apart where the spells hit them.

Peter watched his friends duel uneasily. So far, Remus had blue skin and pink robes, Sirius's hair had fallen off and he had boils on his skin, and James had a green mustache and beard.

Suddenly, Remus stopped throwing spells and looked down the hallway. "Guys, we have to get out of here. There's someone coming."

Sirius and James stopped throwing spells at each other. They fell quiet to listen. "I don't see or hear anyone coming." Sirius replied, looking up and down the destroyed corridor.

"Just trust me." Remus said, pocketing his wand. "We have to leave now."

Peter, James, and Sirius, looked at each other and shrugged. Destroying the corridor would get them into a lot of trouble. They didn't want to be found there, so they ran down the stairs. Just as they reached the bottom of the stairs, they heard a soft meow.

"It's Mrs. Norris." James groaned.

"Or Minnie in her cat form." Remus said.

"Either way we have to get out of here." Sirius said. "Filch is not going to be happy."

"Probably the only good thing to come from this." James said, before he stopped running. "We're dead."

Remus stopped in front of James. "Why?"

"We skipped class and still have clouds of sparkles raining on us. They're going to know it was us who did that, plus look at us. I have a green mustache and beard. You're blue with pink robes and Sirius has no hair and is covered in boils." James replied.

"WHAT?" Sirius yelled, reaching up to touch his head. "What happened to my hair?"

"Stop being in love with your hair." Remus replied, looking behind James when his werewolf hearing picked up Filch's voice mumbling about "rotten kids." "Anyway, Filch is coming. We have to leave now. I want to plan out how we going to pull off our prank before we have to go see Minnie."

"Maybe we were wrong about the Code 93." Sirius whispered to James and Peter.

"Shut up." Remus hissed. He pulled the invisibility cloak from his bag.

"I forgot you had that." James said, as the boys pulled the cloak over themselves.

Remus kept listening to Filch, who was getting closer. "Lucky I didn't. Let's get moving before Filch gets here."

The four boys silently made their way to the mirror on the fourth floor. When they were safely in the hidden room, James pulled the cloak off them and put it in his bag, while Remus went around lighting the torches in the room.

"Can we fix me not having hair and the boils now?" Sirius asked.

"If you fix my skin and robes." Remus replied.

"Fine."

"What about me? I don't like having a green beard and mustache." James said.

The three boys fixed themselves.

The Marauders spent the next few hours working on their plan for how they were going to pull the prank off successfully.

After making sure everything was perfect and that nothing could go wrong, Remus put his parchment and ink away. "It looks like everything will go right. I don't see anything that could go wrong." He said. "So, we better make a reappearance in school."

"This is going to be fun." Sirius said.

**A/N: Please review!**

**Marauders Codes:**

**Code 34: New Prank idea against the Slytherins**

**Code 44: Snivellus has hexed or pranked one of the Marauders**

**Code 93: Remus is starting to act like a Prefect**


	15. Chapter 15: Friendship Over?

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

**The Marauders Year 1**

**Chapter 15: Friendship Over?**

"A week of detention," Sirius muttered. "Isn't that a little extreme just for destroying a corridor? I mean it's not like what we did wouldn't repair itself."

Remus threw his rag at Sirius, which hit him in the face. "Shut up, Sirius. You're annoying me. And besides, shouldn't you be happy. That's one more week of detention added to the detention competition for you."

Sirius stopped cleaning his section of the Great Hall to throw the rag back to Remus. "Yes, but you and James also got one week added. How am I suppose to win if we get detentions together? That's not the problem here anyway. Quidditch is this Saturday. Hufflepuff vs. Slytherin. Minnie is making us serve our detention during the game cause she knows how much we love Quidditch."

"It's not like Gryffindor is playing, so who cares?" Remus said.

"We don't all hate Quidditch like you." James grumbled.

Remus thought about the World Cup tickets he had and how much his father loved Quidditch. "He was a big fan."

James looked up from washing one of the tables. "What are you talking about, Rem?"

"My dad. He loved Quidditch. He was an awesome chaser. He could have gone professional if he wanted too." Remus explained. "He chose to work for the ministry instead."

James, Sirius, and Peter exchanged looks. This was the first time that Remus spoke of his father with them on his own.

"He loved Quidditch almost as much as he loved pranks. He's the one who taught me how to prank when I was younger." Remus continued. He smiled slightly. "He always played a prank on my mom using magic. She always knew it was him too. She would chase him around the house, yelling at him about how he shouldn't do that in front of me. She thought it would give me ideas."

James smiled a little and sat down on top of the table to take a break. "Did it?"

"Some. Whenever my dad took me to a park, I would use my idea on the kids there. They didn't appreciate the pranks much." Remus replied, smirking.

"I can imagine." Sirius said, laughing as he sat next to James. "I once watched a kid prank a bunch of kids at a park before. I was across the street with my mother, who was looking at robes to buy. At first I didn't know what he was doing. He was just putting something on the swings, but I didn't know what cause I didn't see anything being put on the swings. So, I figured whatever it was, was invisible. When he was finished, he went and sat on top of the monkey bars and waited for kids to come. The kids sat on the swings and when they stood up when they were done, they were covered in green goo with green skin and bright red dots that made it like they had dragon pox."

Remus laughed. "I remember that. My dad saw it as a great laugh when he found out they didn't actually have dragon pox. Good thing my mom wasn't there or I would have been in a lot of trouble. My dad never told her about my pranks. He didn't want me to get into trouble."

Sirius stared wide eyed at Remus. "That was you?"

Remus nodded his head. "Yep. It was one of my last pranks before I stopped doing them. Then I came here and started doing them again."

"Do you live around there?" Sirius asked.

Remus shook his head. "I live in a muggle town. My dad took me there to meet some wizard children, but then I got banned from that park after a few weeks of going there. I don't think they liked my pranks much."

James and Sirius laughed.

"Guys, as interesting as it is to talk about detentions, Quidditch, and Remus's past pranks, but I think we have more serious issues to deal with." Peter said, throwing his rag into a bucket of water and sitting down at the nearest table. "Like our housemates for one issue. Do you know how many points we lost today? We only have one hundred and ten points left."

Remus looked out of the Great Hall doors to look at the giant hour-glasses that kept track of the house points. Sure enough, Gryffindor's hour-glass had very few rubies in it.

James laughed. "Oh, they're going to be pissed off. I say after we finish cleaning, we eat dinner in the kitchen. I don't like the idea of getting killed at dinner. Our precious food could be seriously harmed."

His friends joined him in his laughter. They only stopped laughing when McGonagall came into the Great Hall and yelled at them to continue cleaning. She said the students wanted to eat dinner sometime today. The boys continued cleaning because they didn't want to make their housemates madder.

"Guys, I was thinking," Remus started a little bit later when the four boys were in the kitchen eating. "Maybe we should booby trap our room, so we're the only ones who can get in it."

"Why?" Peter asked confused.

"Well, our housemates might try to take revenge on us while we're sleeping. It'll be a good way to keep them out. Also, what if someone comes into our dorm for whatever reason while we're out setting up a prank or on a nighttime stroll?" _'Or I'm away for the full moon and they notice I'm gone.' _Remus added silently.

James nodded his head. "Good point. They could find out we're the Marauders if that were to happen. I agree with Remus. What about you guys?"

Sirius and Peter both agreed. So, after they finished eating, Remus went to the library, while the other three went back to their dorm. Remus asked Madam Pince for books on traps for an essay he was writing for extra credit. After getting the books that would be helpful to him, Remus left the library and went back to Gryffindor Tower.

When Remus entered the tower, he was met with angry glares from his housemates. Whistling innocently, which annoyed them even more, Remus went up to his dorm. He entered the dorm to find all the beds pushed together on one side of the room.

Remus sweat dropped and closed the dorm door. He scratched his head. "Uh…..guys, why are our beds on one side of the room?"

"So we would have more room for the couch and chair, duh." James replied.

Remus blinked and turned towards his friends. He just now noticed that the comfy red couch and chair that Remus always sat on were in the room. He ran out of the dorm and down to the stairs to the common room to see the couch and chair that were usually in front of the fireplace were gone.

"Something wrong, Remus?" Bilius asked nicely. He was one of the few Gryffindors who didn't care about the lost points. He actually found it really funny.

"The couch and chair." Remus muttered, hanging his head.

Bilius laughed. "Yeah. We all came back from dinner to find them missing. Did you guys take them?"

"I don't even know at the moment." Remus mumbled as he climbed the steps back to his dorm. He locked the door behind him.

"Mind explaining why we have the couch and chair in our dorm?" Remus asked as he sat in the fluffy chair.

"Because we can't seat in the common room since we have people who are mad at us down there. And we don't feel like seating on our beds." James explained, leaning back on the couch.

Sirius smiled. "Besides we know how much you love that chair. You're always sitting in it, so don't complain."

Remus rolled his eyes and pulled his books out of his bag. "I got the books about traps." He said, before sighing. "If you were going to steal the furniture from the common room, you could have at least stolen the table as well."

"Sheesh! So needy." Sirius grumbled. He threw his feet into the air and propped them up on nothing.

Remus tapped his feet. "Uh….?"

James pulled something out of the air to show a table that was covered with the invisibility cloak. "Didn't you notice that the table was missing downstairs too?"

Remus blushed. "No."

James chuckled. "Anyway, what kind of traps shall we put on our room?"

Remus rolled over on his bed to look at his friends. They had kept the beds like James, Sirius, and Peter put them, since the three refused to put the furniture back in the common room. Sirius and James were on his left and Peter was next to him on the right end of the beds. Peter and Sirius both insisted they sleep on the outside so that left Remus and James with the two middle beds.

All his friends were sleeping peacefully. Sighing, Remus looked the clock. It read three A.M. in bright red numbers. He groaned and rubbed his tired eyes. He was really tired, but couldn't get to sleep no matter how hard he tried.

The full moon is on Thursday and later that day the Marauders were pulling a prank. At this rate, this month's full moon was going to be horrible if he didn't get some sleep soon.

After spending another hour of rolling around on his bed trying to get to sleep, Remus gave up and crawled off his bed. He searched for his book bag in the dark. His foot slammed into one of the trunks in the room. Remus had to put a hand over his mouth from making any sound that would wake his friends.

He found his bag and pulled a book and his wand out, then climbed back into bed. He closed the curtains around his bed so he wouldn't wake his friends. He lit his wand with 'Lumos' and started reading.

"Why are the curtains around Remus's bed closed?" Peter asked groggily a few hours later. "Weren't they open when we went to bed?"

James yawned widely and crawled to the end of his bed to grab his glasses off his trunk. "Yeah, must have closed them sometime during the night."

Sirius crawled onto James bed with his pink cloud following him. The cloud shrunk a little each hour. All of them would be gone in about two hours. He pulled the curtains apart and looked down at Remus, who was too engrossed in his book to notice that his friends were awake.

"Morning Remus. How long have you been awake?" James asked cheerfully.

Remus grunted and continued reading.

"That's not an answer, Rems." Sirius said with fake scolding.

Remus shrugged.

"What are you reading that's more entertaining than talking with us?" Sirius pouted.

Remus didn't reply.

"Remus, why do you have your wand?" James asked, just now noticing the lit wand.

Remus continued to read his book, making no move to cancel 'Lumos', even though he didn't need it anymore.

Sirius grabbed the book out of Remus's hands. "Stop ignoring me."

Remus looked up with tired eyes and blinked. "How long have you guys been up?"

Sirius fell over in shock. "Remus, we've been talking to you for the past five minutes.

"Oh." Remus replied. "What time is it?"

"Seven Thirty." Peter answered as he rolled out of bed. "You looked really tired, Remus. How much sleep did you get last night?"

"None. I couldn't get to sleep." Remus replied after he said 'Nox' to his wand.

"That's not good. Maybe you shouldn't go to class." James suggested lightly.

Remus's eyes snapped to him. "No."

"Remy, you're tired and irritable." James replied. "You won't be able to stay up during class."

"No, I'm not." Remus snapped, crawling to the end of his bed and jumping off of it. "Besides, we're in enough trouble with the professors already. Me skipping class will just make it worse."

Instantly, Remus knew this was a lie. Tomorrow night was the full moon. The professors would understand if he skipped today.

James pushed Remus, causing him to fell backwards back onto his bed. "Stay here and try to get some sleep. We have a prank to pull tonight. You need to be at full strength for it. Besides, even if you did go to class, you would just fall asleep in class. We'll tell the professors you are feeling ill. And from the way you look, it wouldn't be hard to believe."

Remus knew what he meant. He was extremely pale and clammy. He was sweating and felt very weak. Since he didn't get any sleep and with the full moon the next day, Remus was weaker than he normally was around the full moon.

"Actually," Sirius frowned, "you do look sick for real. Are you feeling okay, Remus?"

"I'm not sick." Remus snapped. "Just a little tired, but even if I try to get some sleep, I'm not getting any."

"Then just stay here and rest." James replied. "You look really weak at the moment. We'll bring you some breakfast. And after you eat and rest, we'll see about you going to class today."

Remus blinked, before falling over, laughing. "You…..s-sound….like….a….m-mother…hen."

Sirius and Peter fell onto their beds and started laughing loudly. Sirius had tears of mirth in his eyes.

James stared open mouthed at Remus, shocked clearly written on his face. "Mother hen?" He questioned slowly.

Remus nodded his head with some difficultly since he was still laughing.

James scowled at Remus, though his eyes showed that he was amused. "REMUS JONH LUPIN! You will not be going to class today! You don't look well." James said in a mock stern mother voice, making his friends laugh harder. James joined in with them this time.

They stopped laughing when they heard someone yelling angrily outside their room. The Marauders opened their door to find Shawn and his friend, Erin, covered head to tail in yellow paint and feathers. This caused the boys to start laughing again.

"What happened?" The head girl, Mariana asked, looking at the two fifth years.

"These four were laughing loudly. We wanted to see why. When we tried to go in their room, paint and feathers were dropped onto us." Erin growled out through clenched teeth.

Mariana glared at the four first years. "What is this?"

Sirius smiled at her before slamming the dorm door shut and locking it. "She's not going to be happy if she tries to unlock the door with a spell."

A loud bang was heard a few seconds later, followed by angry yells.

"Maybe booby trapping our room was a bad idea." Remus said.

"It was your idea." James pointed out.

Remus shrugged. "I was thinking a few traps. You two booby trapped everything." He glanced at the windows and the dorm door. "And now we have an angry head girl and two fifth years after us."

"So?" Sirius questioned. "It will teach them to stay out of our room."

Remus sighed. "Whatever." He knelt in front of his trunk and began searching for his uniform.

James looked up from his trunk. "What are you looking for, Remy?"

"My uniform you dolt. I can't very well go to class wearing my night clothes." Remus snapped.

"I was serious when I said you weren't going to class. You need to rest." James replied calmly. "I also think that if I don't think you feel better tonight, we're not the doing the prank."

Remus rolled his eyes. "Sirius, tell James that I'm fine, cause he isn't listening to me."

"I agree with James, Rems." Sirius said. "You looked really pale today. I think you should skip today."

Remus turned to Peter for help.

Peter frowned and shook his head. "They're right. Stay here."

Muttering angrily, Remus slammed his trunk shut and jumped onto his bed.

"Good boy." Sirius said, patting Remus on the head.

Remus glared at him. "I'm not a dog, Siri-kinies."

Sirius pouted. "Don't call me that, Remy-poo."

"Guys, don't start. We have to get to breakfast." James replied. "We'll bring you some breakfast before we head to class."

Remus said a quiet thank you and laid back on his bed, and stared at the ceiling.

"Sirius, I was wondering." James started on the way to breakfast. "What do your parents think about all the detentions you are getting?"

Sirius shrugged. "They send me very few letters, but from what I can tell is that it's a huge disgrace for a member of the Black family to get a detention. With all the detentions I've racked up so far, I must be a huge disgrace."

"And you're proud of that?" Peter raised a brow.

"I hate my family, Pete. I'll do whatever it takes to disgrace the Black family." Sirius replied. "It's part of the reason I work so hard to prank and hex the Slytherins. My parents are "friends" with most of their parents so I anger them by hexing their "friends" kids."

"And the other reason you prank them?" Peter asked as he watched Snape come up from the dungeons with his nose in a book.

Sirius smirked. He pulled his wand out and casted a trip jinx on Snape. "They're slimy gits who deserve it."

Snape fell down and his book went flying.

James and Peter laughed. "Nice Siri."

"It's what he gets for tripping my best mate yesterday." Sirius replied.

Sirius cast the jinx on Snape again as he was standing up. Peter clapped in the background.

James whipped his wand out and cast a charm on Snape that trapped him in a floating bubble.

"Good one, James," Sirius said.

"Black, Potter," An angry voice behind the boys said.

Both boys turned around to see an angry red-head glaring at them. Her hair looked like it was crackling with electricity with how made she looked.

"Yes Evans?" James asked, smiling at her.

"Leave Severus alone," Lily hissed.

Sirius smirked. "Why?"

"He's my friend." Lily growled.

"You're friends with a Slytherin?" James asked shocked.

Lily's glare intensified. "It doesn't matter what house they are in, Potter. Now let Severus down."

James flicked his wand, making the bubble disappear. Severus fell to the ground, landing on his arm, making a loud crack echo around the Entrance Hall.

Lily snarled at James and ran down the rest of the stairs to help Severus.

"How can she be friends with that greasy git?" James hissed.

Lily helped Severus up and walked him up the stairs. "Nice going, Potter." She growled. "You broke his arm."

"Bonus," James said when Lily and Severus were gone.

"Come on, let's get to breakfast." Peter said.

Remus glared at his friends. He put his toast down and crossed his arms and raised a brow. "Why did you do that?"

"For revenge against him for tripping James yesterday," Sirius answered.

"We're doing a prank tonight to get revenge." Remus replied. He felt much better than he did earlier. When his friends left for breakfast, he took his Minor Infirmus potion. The potion didn't help with his lack of sleep, but it did take most of his weakness away. He also felt less irritable.

"That's against the whole house. What we did to Snivellus was our own personal revenge against him." James explained.

Remus groaned and put his head in his hands. "This is bullying. You guys are bullying him."

"What was it when he tripped me yesterday?" James growled.

"He only did it once as payback." Remus said.

"Payback for what?" Sirius asked angrily. They told Remus what happened before breakfast to give him a laugh. Instead of a laugh, they were getting a lecture.

"Everything you've been doing to him. You hex him all the time. You change the color of his hair, transfigure his uniform into girl clothes, trip him, call him that ridiculous name, and just embarrass him on a regular basis." Remus growled. His glare was pointed at James. "You said yesterday that Snape started the war by tripping you. You're wrong about that. You started the war by hexing him all the time. You've been bullying him all year. What did he ever do to you guys to make you bully him?"

"Like you're one to talk," James growled. "What about all the pranks we've pulled on him together? You were right there, helping us!"

Remus jumped off his bed and stood up, glaring at James and Sirius. "That's different."

Sirius glared back, "How so?"

"Those are pranks. I don't strut around the castle hexing people just cause I'm bored." Remus hissed. He turned around and knelt at his trunk to show that the conversation was over.

James and Peter had to grab Sirius's arms and drag him out of the room to keep him from pouncing Remus and beating him into a pulp.

Remus pulled his uniform on, grabbed his bag, and stomped to class angrily. He couldn't believe his friends could be so immature as to hex Snape like that. Remus didn't like Snape, far from it actually, but he didn't approve of their hexing people for no reason. He never liked it, but he never said anything before. He didn't want to lose the only friends he had. But to be told a story like that the day before the full moon was too much for him. He couldn't take hearing about that anymore.

He slammed the door open to Transfiguration ten minutes late. He ignored McGonagall's yelling and went to sit next to Lily, away from his friends.

McGonagall saw the glares sent to Remus by the other first year Gryffindor boys and how Remus sat away from them. Actually, everyone in the class noticed. The boys weren't trying to conceal the fact that they were angry with each other.

McGonagall glanced at Remus worried, afraid that the boys discovered his secret. Remus saw the worried look and knew what she was thinking. His secret being discovered was always on her mind. Remus shook his head.

She sighed in relief before pinching the bridge of her nose. "Boys, I don't want to know why you are fighting with each other, just leave it out of my class."

Remus was able to avoid his friends until lunch time. He was leaving the Great Hall as his friends were coming to the Entrance Hall. He glared at them and went to walk pass them, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

Remus turned around to glare at James. "What?"

"I'll tell you what," Sirius snarled, pushing James out of the way. "We aren't finished with our conversation from earlier."

Peter groaned. He hated watching his friends fight. James watched the two warily. He was mad at Remus too, but he didn't want to continue the argument.

"I have nothing more to say. I made my point crystal clear." Remus hissed, wrenching his should free.

"It's my turn to get my point across." Sirius growled. "You say we bully Snivellus by hexing him…"

"Which you do," Remus snapped.

Sirius glared at Remus. "He tripped James in the hall yesterday."

Remus glared back at Sirius. "You don't know that it was him. Yes, he passed us, but that doesn't mean he cast a trip jinx on James. For all we know, James could by lying to cover up the fact that he slipped and fell on sparkles. He's probably just very clumsy and didn't want it to show because it would ruin his arrogant, big-headed reputation he has."

James frowned and clenched his hands into fists. Sirius's glare hardened and Peter frowned and looked away from Remus.

Remus instantly realized his mistake and took a stepped back away from his friends.

"I didn't lie and I'm not arrogant." James snarled.

"Don't you ever suggest such a thing." Sirius barked back angrily. "James would have laughed it off with us if that was true. Friends don't lie to each other."

As Sirius said this, he thought about all the lies that Remus has told them. Every month he lied to them.

"Not like you." Sirius said in a soft, quiet voice.

"What are you talking about now?" Remus growled.

Sirius's eyes flashed to James and Peter before going back to Remus. There was an angry fire in his eyes with something else…something that looked like sadness and determination to Remus.

"Every month you lie to us. You tell us you're going home for different reasons, but you're lying." Sirius said.

Remus had his fingernails clenching so tightly into his palms that he drew blood. "I am not lying about those reasons."

"There you go again." James snarled. Being called a liar by his friend infuriated him. "You lie to us about everything."

"I'M NOT LYING ABOUT WHERE I GO!" Remus screamed. His irritation was starting to come back, not even the potion could keep it away when he was this mad with someone. "I'M YOUR FRIEND! YOU'RE SUPPOSE TO TRUST ME!"

James's hand twitched. "THE SAME WAY YOU TRUSTED ME?" He yelled angrily.

Peter looked at his friends nervously. It looked like they were ready to kill each other.

"I didn't mean that." Remus said quietly.

"YOU NEVER MEAN ANYTHING! Sirius shouted.

Students started coming out of the Great Hall to see what all the yelling was about. They stopped at the bottom of the steps to watch the tree first years arguing on the steps.

None of the boys noticed them, except Peter. They were too engrossed in their argument.

"This…..our friendship….was it ever real?" Sirius asked quietly. His voice echoed around the quiet Entrance Hall. All the students watched on in shocked silence. "You just pretended to be our friend because of a deal you made with us."

"You sneak off every month and lie to us about where you go. A real friend wouldn't do that. A real friend would trust us. A real friend would let his other friends help him. You don't care about anything. You're a heartless git who always gets the better part of our punishments. The teachers always let you off easier than us. It's like you have some sort of deal set up with them to get off easier and you always allow us to get the worse end. And then you just smile and say sorry about getting off easier, but you never help us get out of trouble. You just laugh when we get in trouble and say we deserved it. You've been a horrible friend from the beginning." James said angrily.

Remus clenched his teeth together. Once upon a time he didn't want to be their friend. Now, he valued their friendship more than anything. He thought being a werewolf would end their friendship, not an argument over hexing Snape.

"I….you know what?" Remus growled, not caring about anything anymore. His eyes flashed angrily.

Bilius came out of the Great Hall and pushed through the crowd to Shawn and Angel with Jake following him. "What's going on?"

Shawn watched the boys shocked. He thought nothing would destroy the friendship they built up. They seemed so close.

"Sirius, James, and Remus are fighting." Angel said. She was too shocked and surprised to even think about stopping the fight.

"What?" Sirius hissed.

"You're right." Remus growled.

Anyone who was talking immediately stopped. Silence rang through the Entrance Hall. James and Sirius stared shocked at Remus.

Peter looked nervously at the students. "Can one of you go get, Professor McGonagall?"

"Why?" Frank asked, pushing his way to the front of the group of students.

Peter looked at his friends warily, then looked back at Frank. "I have a feeling that fists are going to start flying soon."

Frank nodded his head. He took one last glance at the three arguing boys before running back through the crowd and into the Great Hall.

"Your friendship meant nothing to me. I hate you, Black, Potter, Pettigrew." Remus growled.

"How I get dragged into this?" Peter groaned.

"You three are worthless idiots who I never cared about. I've been fooling you from day one about being your friend. You are all annoying prats. I can't believe I was able to put up with pretending to be your friend for this long." Remus snarled.

Sirius clenched his fists. "You…..you stupid prat! We called you our brother! We called you a real friend! We helped you when your father died! Everyone told you he died saving you! That was a lie! I bet he only saved your life so he could get away from you! He hated the fact that you were his son!"

Peter's eyes widened and he took a few steps back. Everyone at the bottom of the steps backed away. They all sensed the immediate danger that was approaching.

Remus stared at Sirius, shocked written on his face. Ever since he was bitten, he was afraid that his parents hated him for being a werewolf. He never voiced that thought though. No one ever did. And now, Sirius just did, though he didn't realize the depth his words went.

"Shut up!" Remus growled. "Shut UP!"

Before he could even think, Remus punched Sirius in the face. James glared at Remus and after making sure Sirius wouldn't fall down the stairs, he tackled Remus to the ground. They rolled down the stairs, punching and kicking at each other.

Sirius jumped down the rest of the stairs to help James.

"What's going on here?" McGonagall yelled angrily, stalking into the Entrance Hall with Frank following her. The crowd of students parted to let her through to see the fighting boys.

Remus had James pinned to the ground and punched him in the stomach. Sirius was pulling on Remus's arm and punched him in the gut. Remus gasped in surprise, which loosened his hold on James. James pushed Remus up off him and pinned Remus under him.

"BLACK! LUPIN! POTTER!" McGonagall yelled angrily.

The boys stopped fighting just now realizing they had an audience.

"I can't believe you three. Muggle fighting in the Entrance Hall." McGonagall's eyes showed an anger fire in them. She turned to the students. "Don't you all have somewhere to be? Get to class now!"

The students departed immediately, glancing at the bruised and bloody students.

"They are in so much trouble." Bilius said. "I've never seen McGonagall that mad."

"Do you think their friendship it over?" Angel asked sadly.

Bilius and Jake stopped at the top of the stairs to look at the three beaten up boys and the frowning Peter. Remus was standing far away from James and Sirius. Peter was talking with James and Sirius quietly, while Sirius and Remus had a glaring contest. James was glaring at the ceiling, but was listening to Peter and responding when he needed to. McGonagall stood in the hall waiting for all the students to leave.

Students kept pausing in their walking to look at the young Gryffindors. None of them seemed to care that they had a super mad McGonagall glaring at them. They just kept conversing with each other, or in Remus's case, glaring at Sirius with no remorse in his eyes. He didn't look at all upset about fighting with his best friends.

"I don't see how it can't be over." Bilius replied. "None of them seem to care that they fought with each other. And did you hear all the horrible things they said to each other? What Sirius said about Remus's dad was really horrible. Everything they said was extremely horrible."

Angel looked extremely upset. "It can't be over. Haven't you ever seen them when they are together? It doesn't seem like anything could break apart their friendship. One of them could be really evil and that wouldn't ruin their friendship."

Bilius frowned. "Whatever happened, we can't do anything about it. It's not our business."

"Their friendship is over."

**A/N: Please review!**


	16. Chapter 16: Arguments

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

**The Marauders Year 1**

**Chapter 16: Arguments**

James and Sirius sat at the bottom of the steps in the Entrance Hall. Peter stood next to them and Remus stood a few feet away from the stairs, leaning against the wall, not looking at his ex-friends. The three boys who fought were covered in dirt and had tears in their robes. The robes had specks of blood on them.

James touched his lips. When he took his hand away, he saw blood on his hand. "Are my lips cut?"

Sirius stopped touching his eye where he felt a black eye. He looked at James's face. "Yeah, and you have bloody nose. That's why there's so much blood."

"Sirius, what you said about Remus's dad was a low blow." James said.

Sirius sighed. "I know, but you can't say he and you didn't say anything better."

McGonagall saw the last of the students leave the Great Hall and head to class. They heard the fight and yelling in the Great Hall, but didn't want to go see what was happening.

Lily came out of the hall and glared at the boys on the stairs. She walked over to Remus. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it, Lily." Remus replied, looking away from her. Tears were filling up in his eyes. "You better get to class before you're late."

Lily nodded her head and left.

When all the students were gone, McGonagall looked back at the boys.

The boys stood up and joined Remus, standing against the wall.

"What were you three doing? Putting a show on for your peers?" McGonagall growled.

"We were fighting, ma'am." Sirius replied honestly, no sarcasm anywhere in his voice.

Remus glared at Sirius.

McGonagall looked shocked at the blunt statement. She covered her shock up immediately. "So, what were you fighting about?"

"I…..we'd rather not discuss it again." Sirius replied, glaring at Remus. "I was the one to throw the first punch, punish me."

Remus opened his mouth to object, but James stomped his foot onto Remus's foot, making the smaller boy say "Ow" and hop on one foot while nursing his other foot.

"Potter!" McGonagall barked. Her glare hardened. "I've never been more disappointed in my house. Best friends fighting like muggles in front of all their peers. Have you no shame? If you are having a fight, then you should talk it out, not beat each other into a bloody pulp. Worse yet, it was two against one. That's not even a fair fight. Black, Potter, you will each serve a week of detention and lose thirty points each. Lupin, you will serve three days of detention and lose fifteen points for continuing the fight instead of walking away."

The boys nodded their head, not caring at all about the loss points or detentions.

Peter noticed the Gryffindor hourglass lose more points. At the rate they were going, Gryffindor would be in the negatives soon.

"I want all three of you in the Hospital Wing now, then I want you to get your class." McGonagall pointed up the stairs.

All three of them silently climbed the stairs. Peter went to follow them when McGonagall called him back.

James and Sirius stopped to see why she called their friend back. Remus glanced at Peter, but didn't stop. They weren't friends anymore.

Sirius glared at Remus's retreating back.

"Go ahead boys. I just need to ask Mr. Pettigrew something." McGonagall never took her eyes off Remus's back. She was frowning deeply. He normally would have waited for his friend.

James smiled reassuring at Peter and pulled Sirius along to the Hospital Wing.

Madam Pomfrey looked away from her cabinet of potions and at the two boys when she heard the door open. "Sit down. Mr. Lupin informed me that you were coming."

James and Sirius sat next to each other on one of the beds and glared at Remus, who was on the opposite side of the room on bed across from them. "A real friend wouldn't walk away when someone calls for one of their friends." Sirius's voice was laced with spite.

Remus frowned and looked away from them. "I've already said this. Your friendship meant nothing to me. I've always hated you guys. You know the truth now, so stop bothering me with this trivial stuff about being friends."

"Trivial stuff?" Sirius growled, jumping off his bed. He stalked over to Remus and pulled him up to his face. "Do you know anything about friends? Do you know how great it is to have friends? Friends you can trust completely? Friends that are like brothers to you? We called you our brother. We thought we were true friends. We had so much fun together. How can you say that we were never friends? Was everything these past few months a lie? Everything you told us and did with us, was it all a lie?"

Remus stared into Sirius's eyes, not flinching once. He saw the desperation in his eyes and sadness. Sirius wanted more than anything for the answer to be no. Remus knew Sirius thought of him as a true friend.

Right now, Remus couldn't deal with this. He wanted to stay friends with them more than anything, but he was still angry and couldn't think straight. The full moon was tomorrow night and he was tired and irritable from the lack of sleep.

"Yes." He said calmly, lying though his teeth, never once taking his eyes off of Sirius.

Sirius dropped Remus back onto his bed and walked away, extremely upset. He sat back on the bed with James as Madam Pomfrey came back over with three goblets.

"Drink the potion and wait five minutes before leaving." Madam Pomfrey replied.

Remus chugged his potion and turned around so he didn't have to look at James and Sirius.

Sirius stared at Remus's back, upset. "James, promise me something."

James looked away from Remus to look at Sirius. His eyes held great pain at learning that someone he considered one of his best friends was never a friend of his. "Promise me that I'll never lose your friendship. I don't like losing friends. It hurts." Sirius whispered.

Remus bit his lip. His werewolf hearing was allowing him to hear their conversation. He wished he could turn it off. He didn't like eavesdropping.

"That might be the black eye Lupin gave you." James joked before turning completely serious. "I'll never turn my back on my friends like Lupin."

Remus winced. He didn't like hearing them call him Lupin or saying things like that.

"For someone who is so small and looks so weak, he can throw a strong punch." James said as he looked in a nearby mirror to see his cut lip was healing.

"Or he just got lucky." Sirius snorted. "I mean you guys did tumble down the stairs."

"Yeah, maybe," James replied.

Remus jumped off the bed and stomped out of the Hospital Wing. He hated his werewolf hearing. He could hear everything with it.

James watched Remus stalk out of the Hospital Wing. "Do you think he was telling the truth?"

"About what?" Sirius asked.

"Hating us and never actually being our friend." James replied.

"Honestly, I have no idea. I really hope he is lying though." Sirius said, staring at Hospital Wing doors.

James stood up. "Come on. We have to get to class."

Things turned horrible by the time it was dinner time. Sirius and James were mad all day since they left the Hospital Wing. They looked furious and were glaring at everyone. They couldn't concentrate in their last class because they were so mad.

Remus was more upset over the fight then mad, but wouldn't show that he was upset. He would show them no weakness and he definitely wasn't going to go crawling back to them to beg for forgiven and become friends again. So instead, he showed anger. The problem was that he wasn't sure who he was angry at.

Remus was mad at himself for fighting and ending the friendship he had with James, Sirius, and Peter. They were the first friends he had since he got bit by the werewolf. After he was bitten, the friends he had abandoned him and he was forced to move. Now at Hogwarts he had friends, but he just threw that friendship away.

But Remus was also mad at James and Sirius. They were always hexing people. And Peter always stood back and watched them do it, cheering them on. And then Sirius had to go mention his father in the argument. That made it all the more worse.

The young werewolf looked up from eating dinner alone to see Snape dangling in the air wearing nothing but boxers.

James and Sirius high fived each other under the table a little bit down the table from where Remus sat. It was usually where all four of them sat together during meals. They had claimed the spot as theirs.

Remus's hand twitched. He couldn't believe after everything he said, they were still hexing people. Seeing this was all it took for Remus to realize that he did hate his ex-friends. Why couldn't they just leave people alone?

Sirius waved his wand under the table again. Little pink hearts started to cover Snape's body.

Before Remus could even think, his hand plunged into his pocket. He pulled his wand out and discreetly fired two spells at James and Sirius. The hexes hurt them and they got covered in painful green and silver boils.

Remus put his wand away and went back to eating, while James and Sirius jumped to their feet screaming. Remus looked up from his meal and smirked.

"LUPIN!" Sirius stomped over to him after he saw the smirk. He pulled his wand out and had it pointed at Remus's face.

Remus pulled his wand back out and jumped to his feet as well.

The boys glared at each other. Neither of them wanting to lose t

"BLACK! LUPIN! WANDS AWAY NOW!" McGonagall yelled, stalking over to them.

Neither of them listened to her.

James and Peter grabbed Sirius and pulled him away from Remus. "It's not worth it." James whispered to him.

Sirius didn't take his eyes off Remus, but he did put his wand away. Remus lowered his wand and stalked out of the hall.

Sirius and James left after him to go make the potion that would cure the boils they had. Peter grabbed a chicken wing off his plate and followed them.

While his friends made the potion, Remus went to the library to work on his homework. He felt horrible. His Minor Infirmus potion wasn't helping anymore this month. He was too upset and mad over losing his friends. The sadness engulfed his heart. The wolf noticed this and was taking over his mind and was making him think irrationally. He needed something to distract him from his ex-friends, and his homework did that.

That night, the Gryffindor tower was in chaos. Remus and Sirius were standing nose to nose, screaming in each other's faces in the middle of the common room. Peter and James had to hold them back so they wouldn't kill each other.

"Should we do something?" Bilius asked concerned. The two boys looked ready to hex each other. He had a feeling that they would have by now if it wasn't for James and Peter holding them back.

"What can we do?" Angel replied worried. "We can't fix this. The only ones to fix this problem are them. And that is never going to happen after the argument yesterday."

"LET ME GO, JAMES! I'M GOING TO KNOCK THAT SMIRK RIGHT OFF HIS FACE!" Sirius screamed, trying to pull his arms free.

"He's…..not…even…smirking." James said with some difficulty as he was trying very hard to keep Sirius back.

"HE WAS AT DINNER! THAT PRAT HEXED US!" Sirius yelled.

"YOU DESERVED IT!" Remus shouted back, while he tried to pull himself free as well.

"WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THAT?" Sirius screeched.

"HEXING SNAPE! HEXING ANYONE WHO ANNOYS YOU! PRANKS ARE ONE THING, BUT HEXING IS ANOTHER THING!" Remus yelled angrily.

Sirius stopped struggling and looked at Remus shocked. "You don't know?"

Remus glared at him. "I'm not playing stupid games with you, Black."

Remus pulled his arms free and after one last glare at Sirius, he stalked up the stairs to his dorm.

"He doesn't know?" Sirius said quietly so only James and Peter could hear him. "How could he not know?"

"Not know what?" Peter asked.

James sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "When we left the Hospital Wing earlier, we ran into Snivellus. He was saying some pretty horrible stuff about us. Yelling at us about hexing him earlier in the Great Hall. Then he started insulting Remus and saying that he was a weak, pathetic prat who doesn't belong in Gryffindor. He also said that he was a stupid follower who we never considered a friend that we just used him for his brains to pull off our pranks. He called him a half-blood blood traitor too."

Peter growled. "Why did he do that? Remus never did anything to him, except a few pranks."

"Because he's a slimy git," Sirius hissed.

"We should have told him." James said.

"I thought you guys were mad at him." Peter replied.

James shrugged. "We were really upset and mad about what he said at lunch. That is why we fought with him. But we were mostly upset that he said we were never his friends and that he called me a liar."

"And we were mad about what he told us in the Hospital Wing. He said we were never friends and that he hated all of us." Sirius said and sighed.

"We need to talk to him." Peter replied, looking at the steps that led to the boy dorms.

"We'll talk to him tomorrow. We should leave him alone tonight and let him think things over." James said.

The next day, Remus was the first to wake up. He slept on the couch that was still in the room, since his bed was still pushed together with the other beds. After taking his Minor Infirmus potion and getting dressed, Remus grabbed his bag and left the dorm without giving his roommates one glance.

All day, Remus avoided his friends. He was still mad at them for hexing Snape for no reason the day before and upset over their fight.

"He's avoiding us." Sirius said that night at dinner. "Why?"

"He must still be mad." James replied sadly.

Peter looked around the Great Hall. "I can't see him anyway. I wonder where he is."

"We'll just talk to him tonight in our room." Sirius said.

Peter frowned. "I still don't understand why though. You said that he said that we were never friends. Why would you want to try to get something back with him if it was never there to begin with?"

Sirius frowned and looked at James, who was also frowning and staring at his plate.

"Pete, yesterday when we were fighting, we all said things we didn't mean. I called him a horrible friend. Sirius said his father hated him. And I think….that everything Remus said about hating us and never being our friends was a lie." James said quietly. "We were are mad and not thinking straight. We need to talk with him. I think he was our friend but said he wasn't out of anger. We have to fix this. We have to get his friendship back."

"I really hope he was just saying that stuff because he was mad." Peter replied.

"Same here. The Marauders aren't the same without him." Sirius said sadly.

The Marauders sat in their dorm that night waiting for Remus to come back. They stayed up until midnight when they finally went to bed. All of them were worried about Remus. None of them saw him since their last class for that day.

"Where is he?" Sirius said quietly.

No one answered. No one had the answer.

The wolf was running around the shack, extremely upset and alone. It had no one anymore. His father: dead. His friends: abandoned. He was completely alone now. No one could help him. There was to keep his mind somewhat peaceful as he attacked himself and the shack. The wolf felt so alone. It was going insane with the thought of being alone. Its attacks on itself were getting more violent.

The wolf howled in pain as it scratched itself. The wolf jumped over the stair railings. It slammed into the ground. The cracking sound of a bone breaking echoed around the empty house. The wolf howled in pain and struggled to get back up. When he was up, he ran back up the stairs, scratching and biting at himself as he ran up them.

When morning came, the wolf howled in great pain from its wounds and from transforming back into a human. The wolf fell unconscious as it was transforming back and fell onto the bed.

Remus awoke to hear a fanatic Madam Pomfrey bustling around him. He groaned. He felt horrible. "Madam?"

"Thank Merlin, you're awake, Remus. You've been unconscious for two days." Madam Pomfrey sighed in relief. "This month was really horrible. You almost died this month."

Remus's eyes widened.

"Why was it so bad this month? What happened that made you so distressed that made the full moon hard this month?" Madam Pomfrey asked concerned. "Was it the argument with your friends?"

Remus snorted. "We're not friends. Our friendship ended."

"That would do it." Madam Pomfrey tsked. "Losing the friendship must have upset you extremely and made the wolf angry and upset."

"And lonely," Remus muttered. "It didn't like the thought of having no friends again."

Madam Pomfrey frowned at that. She gave Remus his potions before hearing the Hospital Wing doors slam open at in the main part of the wing. Remus smiled at her and said thanks as she went to attend to her new patient.

Remus climbed out of the bed when she was gone. He padded quietly to the door and opened it a crack. He peered outside his private room to see Madam Pomfrey healing one of the fourth years on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team.

Two beds down from them was a second year Ravenclaw with oversized teeth that needed shrunk. On the other side of the room a first year girl was sleeping.

Madam Pomfrey finished healing the fourth year. Remus closed the door just as Madam Pomfrey turned around. Remus climbed back into bed with some difficulty from his wounds. He waited twenty minutes before getting back up again. He grabbed some extra muggle clothe that he had in the room. Students wore muggle clothes on the weekend.

After he was finished getting dressed, Remus peered outside the room again. The fourth and second year students were gone. The first year girl was still sleeping. Madam Pomfrey wasn't around so Remus assumed she was in her office.

Taking a deep breath, Remus slid out of the private room and walked quietly to the Hospital Wing doors. He didn't want to spend his weekend in the Hospital Wing. He had more important things to do like his homework he missed yesterday and sulking somewhere about being alone again. He couldn't believe all the stuff he said to his ex-friends.

Remus walked into the Gryffindor common room to a strange sight. Everything was turned over. His peers were lying on the ground, tangled in each other's limbs. Some of the kids were trapped under the flipped over furniture.

Remus blinked. "Uh…What's going on?"

"Hi Remus," A cheerful Bilius greeted him. He was trapped under a pile of students, but still looked really happy.

"What happened? It looks like a tornado went through here." Remus said.

Bilius chuckled. "Your fri….roommates were bored so they decided to run around the common room. They kept running into everything and everyone."

Remus had to fight hard to keep himself from smiling.

Bilius raised a brow when he saw Remus's mouth twitching, as if he wanted to smile. "Remus, is what you said the other day true?"

"I don't know. What did I say?" Remus asked.

Bilius didn't reply right away. He was busy getting out of the pile of students. When he was free, Bilius patted the dust off himself. He looked down at Remus and frowned. "The argument you, James, and Sirius had. You said you hated them and was never their friend. Is that true?"

"Why would I say something I don't mean?" Remus retorted. He wasn't looking at Bilius though. He kept looking around the messy common room to avoid eye contact.

"Because you were mad," Bilius answered simply. "People say things all the time that they don't mean when they are mad."

Remus frowned.

"Think about what you said," Bilius said.

Remus shrugged and walked up to his dorm without another word. The dorm looked like it did the day he left.

Remus hopped into the shower to clean the dry blood off his body from his wounds. His wounds stung when the hot water hit them. He tilted his head back and let the water rain down his face and body. He closed his eyes and thought back to the day he fought with James and Sirius. A lot of hurtful things were said in that fight by all three of them. Remus felt ever guiltier by bringing Peter into it when he was just watching them argue. Peter didn't do anything to be targeted by him in that fight.

Remus sighed and looked at his arms and torso. He was littered with bite and scratch marks. It would be a few days before they healed, maybe longer since he wasn't in the Hospital Wing getting potions that would help the healing process.

When Remus got out of his shower and got dressed, he went into the bedroom to see his roommates were back. Sirius and Peter were lounging on the couch and chair that they stole from the common room. James was lying on his stomach on his bed, looking at a brown leather book and biting the end of his quill.

James looked up when the bathroom door open. He closed his book and stood up, smiling weakly at Remus. "Remus, can we talk?"

Remus looked from James to Peter to Sirius, then back to James. Remus bit his lip.

"Please Remy, we want to fix this." Sirius pleaded.

Remus shoved his hands in his pockets and looked out the window. "Fix what?"

"Our friendship," James replied.

Remus wanted to talk to his friends, but he had questions that he needed to answer himself. Can he forgive his friends? Does he want their friendship back? Was he ever mad at them to begin with? How can they fix their friendship? And most importantly, can he forgive himself for yelling at his friends and hitting them?

The young werewolf was snapped out of his thoughts when he felt himself being pulled onto the couch. Sirius and James sat on either side of him and Peter sat on the chair.

"We need to fix everything." James started. He looked at Sirius and Peter. "Remus, we're sorry. We all said horrible things in that fight. We said things we didn't mean. You are a real friend. I'm sorry about calling you a heartless git and saying that you lie about where you go every month. You are our friend. We should trust you."

Remus wanted to slam his head into a wall. Everything they said about him lying was true. He was wanted to come out and say it. He hated lying to them.

"I'm sorry for saying everything I did about your father." Sirius said. "I was way out of line when I said that. I know I hurt you a lot by saying that. I'm sorry, Remy."

Remus sighed. "James, I'm sorry about calling you a lying and not trust you. Sirius, Peter, I'm sorry for everything I said about you guys too. I wasn't thinking straight these last couple days. I've been really sick these past few days and haven't been thinking straight. I didn't mean anything I said. When I said I hated you and we weren't ever friends…."

"Remy, please tell me that wasn't true. I don't want to lose you as a friend." James said. He looked at Sirius and Peter, then back at Remus. "None of us do. You're one of our best friends. We don't want to lose that friendship. We always thought we were friends. Please tell us you were lying when you said that we were never friends."

Remus was biting his lip as he thought. "I have to know why you hexed Snape the other day after our fight. When I saw that, I really hated you guys. I told you in our fight that I hated when you guys did that. Then after the fight, you go and hex him again. It really angered me to see that and to see that you guys were so happy about it."

"We figured that out when you hexed us in defense of Snape." Sirius said bitterly.

"It wasn't in his defense. That was because I was mad and upset. You guys looked so happy and like you didn't care that I wasn't your friend anymore. It hurt me. It made me think you really didn't care about our friendship." Remus replied.

"No, losing your friendship really hurt us too. We hexed Snape because after we left the Hospital Wing after our fight, we ran into Snape. He started saying really horrible things about you. We couldn't let him get away with that." Sirius said.

Remus raised a brow. "Why did you defend me after I said all those hurtful things to you guys and then saying that we were never friends?"

James grinned. "Marauders Forever!"

"No matter what, we are still Marauders." Peter said. "A fight isn't going to change. Nothing will break us apart."

Sirius grinned. "So, all is forgiven and we're all friends again?"

"I never wanted our friendship to end in the first place." Remus said.

"As Pete said, nothing is going to break us apart." James replied. "Now, I do believe the Marauders got a prank to pull on the Slytherins."

Remus smiled. "And for the Marauders to pull this prank without any suspicions to us, I say we pretend to still hate each other. So we can't act like friends to each other until the prank has been pulled."

"But I hate fighting with you." Sirius whined.

"It's only when we are in public." Remus replied. "I say about a day after we pull the prank we can make a show of making up."

Sirius and James perked up at that. "Make a show of it?" James questioned.

"Oh, this is going to be fun." Sirius smirked.

"Let's pull the prank tonight." James suggested.

"Why?" Remus asked.

"So we only have to pretend to fight with you today and we can make up tomorrow after prank." Sirius explained.

Remus smirked. "Want to hear my idea of how we should make up?"

The three other boys grinned and put their heads together to listen to his plan.

"Where are James, Sirius, and Peter?" Angel huffed as she helped some second and third years fix the table in the common room.

"Their dorm," Bilius replied.

"They should be the ones fixing this, not us." Angel growled. "They are the ones who did it."

Bilius frowned. "They would probably make everything worse." He looked up the stairs leading to the boys' dorms. "Remus is up there too. I wonder if they've killed each other yet."

As soon as Bilius said this, angry yelling started.

"BLACK, POTTER, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Remus yelled.

"YOU DESERVED IT!" Sirius yelled back.

"WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS?" Remus shouted.

"BEING A BLOODY PRAT!" James screamed.

Much banging, screaming, and sounds of stuff breaking after that.

"They are really mad." Shawn said as he walked down the dorm stairs from his room where he was resting until he heard the noise. "Don't you think someone should stop them?"

"We can't get into their dorm, remember? They put traps on it so no one could get it." Angel replied.

Inside the room, Remus and Sirius were rolling around on the floor play wrestling. Peter and James took turns breaking things, then repairing them with a charm, then breaking them again. All four boys were grinning brightly.

"Sirius, James, we have to give each other real injuries to really fool everyone into thinking that we are still fighting." Remus said, while trying to get his breath back. He rubbed his chest where a real nasty cut from the full moon was.

James and Sirius glanced at each other. "He wants to ruin my perfect face again." Sirius pouted.

Peter looked at the ground and frowned. "Who's bleeding?"

James and Sirius looked where Peter was looking and frowned. There were specks of blood on the ground. Remus's eyes widened in fear.

"I'm not bleeding." Sirius said. He glanced at Remus, who looked scared and worried. "Remy?"

""Huh?" Remus replied.

"Are you bleeding?" Sirius asked. He noticed Remus had a hand over his chest and frowned. "Is something wrong with your chest?"

"No," Remus said too quickly.

James raised a brow and looked at Sirius, who looked skeptical. "Remus…."

Remus stood up and glared at Sirius. "We have to finish the prank." He hissed.

"Leave it alone," James whispered to Sirius. "I don't want to lose his friendship after just getting it back."

Sirius growled annoyed, but agreed with James. "Fine," He turned back to Remus. "So we have to punch hurt now?"

"That or we hex each other real badly." Remus shrugged. He looked much happier now that Sirius wasn't questioning him.

"We beat each other up last time, so let's hex each other this time." James replied.

Three wands were drawn and hexes started flying. Peter ducked behind a couch so he wouldn't get hit.

The hexes stopped flying after a few minutes, so Peter stood up. James and Remus were lying unconscious on the ground. Sirius sat on the ground, rubbing his chest. Their wands lay forgotten on the floor in a pile next to Sirius.

"Should I go get someone to take you three to the Hospital Wing?" Peter asked.

Sirius nodded his head. His eyes were beginning to droop. The last thing he saw before everything went black was Peter running out of the dorm and yelling for help.

Sirius opened his eyes to see James standing over him, frowning. "AHHH!" He screamed, falling off the bed. "That's a horrible sight to wake up to."

James sat on the now empty bed and pouted.

Laughing, Sirius stood up and looked around the room to find himself in the Hospital Wing. There were on a few other kids in the room.

"McGonagall wants us in her office. That prat, Lupin, is already there." James said after a few moments of silence.

Sirius frowned at James when he called Remus a prat.

James saw this, so he moved his eyes in the directions of the other students.

Realization dawned on Sirius. He groaned and stood up. "Let's get this over with."

They left the Hospital Wing and headed to McGonagall's office.

"We're in so much trouble." James said as they walked.

Sirius shrugged. "We knew this was going to happen if we wanted to play this prank. At least we got Remus's friendship back."

James raised his hand to knock on McGonagall's door, but stopped when he heard voices on the other side. He put a finger to his lips to let Sirius know to be quiet.

"…Leaving the Hospital Wing?" McGonagall was saying.

"I was thinking that I didn't want to spend my whole weekend there. I wanted at least one day to myself." Remus replied calmly.

"And what if you fainted when you left? You almost died. You should have stayed in the Hospital Wing. If you had, you wouldn't have gotten into another fight with Mr. Potter and Mr. Black and made your condition worse." McGonagall scolded.

Sirius and James looked at each other. They were both extremely pale.

"Almost died?" Sirius mouthed.

"But I didn't. I woke up today and felt fine, just a little sore." Remus retorted.

James brought his fist back up and knocked on the door. He didn't want to hear anymore.

The voices fell into a hushed silence.

"Come in," McGonagall called a few seconds later.

James and Sirius entered their professor's office quietly. Neither of them looked happy.

"Sit," McGonagall commanded, pointing to the two empty chairs next to Remus.

The boys obeyed, casting worried covert glances at Remus as they did.

McGonagall placed her hands on her desk and frowned. "Well?"

A few moments of silenced passed by before Sirius spoke up. "Well, what ma'am?"

McGonagall's nostrils flared. "What were you three arguing about that made you hex each other? Wasn't it just the other day you three were fighting like common Muggles? I expect fighting between houses, but not in the same house, especially between three boys who have been friends since school started."

None of the boys replied. James and Sirius had to look away to keep from grinning. Remus looked at the ground so McGonagall wouldn't see that he was red in the face as he tried to keep his laughter in.

"Why were you fighting?" McGonagall asked again.

McGonagall pinched the bridge of her nose when she received no response. "Fine, you three solve this yourself. I have other things to attend to then to solve your problems. Ten points from each of you. Now, please leave."

Remus cast a glare at James and Sirius for show as he left the office.

When the two black haired boys left McGonagall's office, they looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"If we can fool Minnie, we can definitely fool the rest of the school." James grinned.

Remus grinned to himself as he headed to the Great Hall for a later lunch. A whole day of fake fighting to play a prank. This is going to be so much fun.

Remus stopped in the Entrance Hall to look at the Gryffindor hour glass. He laughed when he saw there were only sixty-two rubies in it.

"What are you laughing about, Lupin?" Sirius asked as he marched down the stairs.

Remus smirked. "Your hair. Have you seen it?"

Sirius stopped walking. "What happened to my hair?"

James looked at his friend. "Nothing, it looks…." He stopped talking to see Sirius's hair turn a bright orange. "Well, now it's orange."

Sirius screamed. He pulled some hair to his eyes to see that it was indeed a bright orange. He looked back at Remus, who laughing with tears of mirth in his eyes and twirling a wand in his hand.

"You know Black, maybe I should cut it too. It's getting much too long." Remus said through his laughter.

Sirius's eye started twitching. "You've gone too far, Lupin. No one messes with my hair."

"I just did," Remus smirked.

James stepped to side. He saw where this was going and he wanted no part in it.

Sirius had his wand in his hand in a flash. "You're going to pay, Lupin."

He fired a spell at Remus that made his skin black and gray stripes.

Remus retaliated with a spell that made Sirius's pants turn into a skirt.

Sirius responded by tripping Remus with a trip jinx.

Remus growled as he stood up. "Tarantallegra!" He shouted.

Sirius feet started to dance uncontrollably.

"Lupin, Black, stopped at once." Professor Rana said angrily as she came down the stairs. She cast a charm on Black to stop his feet. "Five points from each of you."

Remus shrugged. What difference did points make now? There was no way Gryffindor could win the house cup now.

"Nice going, Lupin." Sirius snarled.

"Watch it, Black, or I will cut all your hair off." Remus growled.

"You wouldn't dare," Sirius said confidently, but he did take a couple of steps back.

Rana clapped her hands impatiently to get the boys' attention. "Boys that is enough. Fix yourselves and go."

Remus changed his skin back and Sirius changed his skirt back into pants. When Sirius tried to change his hair back, it wouldn't work.

Remus smirked and put his wand away. "The orange won't go away for two weeks.

Sirius gaped at Remus. He tried to lung at him, but James chose that moment to intervene. He held Sirius back by his robes so Sirius wouldn't kill Remus in front of a teacher.

Rana pinched the bridge of her nose. "Sirius, calm down. Remus, just get into the Great Hall."

Sirius and James entered the Great Hall a few minutes later. Everyone who was still in the Great Hall took one look at Sirius's orange hair and started laughing. James dragged Sirius to their usual seats at the Gryffindor table before he could kill Remus for his new hair color.

"How could Remus do this to my beautiful hair?" Sirius whined.

"He had to make it look like you guys are really fighting." James replied nonchalantly as he started to fill his plate with food.

Sirius angrily stabbed a chicken wing with his fork. "He didn't have to target my hair."

James rolled his eyes. Sirius was obsessed with his hair. He spends twenty-five minutes every morning to make it perfect. Remus and he had a big laugh about that and called Sirius a girl for a week before Sirius blew up and tired to strangle them.

Remus was sitting on his bed, quietly reading a fascinating book when Sirius slammed the dorm door open. He stalked into the room angrily with a laughing James and Peter following him inside. Peter closed the door behind them.

"What's up?" Remus raised a brow.

"Look at my hair." Sirius said in a dangerous voice.

Remus looked at his hair for a long while.

"I give up. What's wrong with it?" Remus asked.

"Besides that fact it's orange?" Sirius growled. "Some stupid slimy gits put sparkly stars in it."

"Oh, that's what that is." Remus said. He turned back to his book. "Well, you can get them back with tonight's prank."

Sirius calmed down some at the mention of their prank. "Yeah, that'll teach those slimy gits not to mess with the Marauders."

Remus opened his nightstand drawer and pulled a vial out without looking up from his book. He tossed it to Sirius. "That will get rid of the orange." Then he pulled his wand out and fired a spell at Sirius.

"What did you do?" Sirius screamed scared.

James laughed and flopped down on his bed. "Relax Sirius; he just got rid of the stars. He must be feeling generous today to do that for you."

Remus looked up from his book looking offended. "I'm always generous."

James turned his head to look at Remus and snorted. "Oh yes, you are very generous. You were very, very generous the other day when you gave me a bloody nose and Sirius a black eye."

Remus blushed. "Who are you to talk? You broke my nose."

"I had to get you back somehow." James laughed.

Sirius plopped down on his bed. "Hey Remy, what did McGonagall mean earlier when she said you almost died?"

Remus froze in turning his page. His eyes never moved from his book.

"Remus?" James sat up on his bed and turned to Remus, who was sitting next to him on his bed. He looked at him concerned. "Remus?"

Remus shook his head. "Sorry, did you say something? I spaced out."

James frowned. "What did McGonagall mean when she said you almost died?"

It was Remus's turn to frown. "What are you talking about?"

"You know what we are talking about." Sirius snarled, sitting up into a sitting position. "She was talking to you earlier before we entered her office."

Remus clenched his book tightly in his fists. He was very pale and his eyes were darting around the room to avoid eye contact with his friends.

"I….she…was…" Remus bit his lip and rubbed his forehead nervously, which was becoming a habit of his.

James raised a brow. "She was what?"

Remus turned his eyes back to his book. He tried to read it to give himself time to think, but all he saw in the book was the same sentence over and over again. _They're going to find out and abandoned you. They're going to find out and abandoned you. They're going to find out and abandoned you._

Eyes very wide and scared, Remus screamed and threw his book across the room. It bounced off the wall and hit the ground with a THUD!

Sirius, James, and Peter stared at the abandoned book.

"What the hell, Remus?" Sirius asked amused.

Remus shrugged.

"I think he's getting over his Library Disease!" James said excitedly.

"That's amazing! I didn't know it was possible to cure yourself of that horrid disease." Sirius said amazed.

Remus slapped a hand to his face. "Peter do they actually believe that Library Disease exists?"

"I think so," Peter replied, staring at James and Sirius astonished as they danced and sang around the room very excited.

Remus stared at them to. "Please stop, you're giving me a horrible headache with your horribly off-key singing."

This resulted in James and Sirius singing much louder.

Peter plugged his ears with his hands, while Remus put a pillow over his head to muffle the sound.

A little while later, a pillow was smacked into Remus's stomach.

Bleary eyed, Remus opened his eyes to see two bleary figures sitting over him. He blinked his eyes a few times and sat up. After rubbing his eyes, he looked at James and Sirius who were grinning at him.

"Ello mate!" James greeted.

"You fell asleep to our beautiful singing." Sirius said.

Remus stared at them like they were crazy. "I was just blocking the sound out with my pillow."

"But you fell asleep when you did that." Peter replied.

"Why'd you wake me up?" Remus asked tiredly.

Sirius grin turned into a smirk. "Time for our prank."

Remus smirked back. "Awesome, let's go."

James moved to his trunk and pulled out his invisibility cloak.

"That was my foot." Sirius growled.

"Sorry," Remus whispered.

Remus looked around the dungeon. "Um….we go left."

"Are you sure?" James asked.

Remus looked up and down the corridor. It all looked the same to him. How could anyone be sure? "Almost sure." He whispered and led his friends down the corridor without another word.

After half an hour of walking, avoid Ms. Norris and Prefect, and two wrong turns, the four boys made it to a dead end.

"Nice going, Remus. You got us to a dead end. I thought you knew where you were going." Sirius hissed.

"Pure-blood," Remus said.

"What does that…." Sirius stopped when the wall started to move. "Oh."

Remus rolled his eyes. "Let's go."

Evil smirks were worn all around as the boys went into the Slytherin common room. They were still under the invisibility cloak for safety. Someone might still be in the common room and the boys didn't want to be caught before they could pull their prank.

Luckily, the common room was empty so they could get started on their prank right away.

Peter and Sirius began working in the common room. They were changing everything to gold, red, blue, bronze, yellow, and black, all the Hogwarts' colors except the Slytherin colors.

While they were doing this, Remus and James, still under the invisibility cloak, snuck into all the boys' dorms. James transfigured their pajamas into different types of clothes while Remus went around collecting the rest of their clothes and stuffing them into the bags he brought.

When they were done, they lugged the bags downstairs to see Sirius and Peter relaxing on the couch.

"You finished?" Sirius asked quietly.

James grinned. "They won't know what hit them."

"Let's go finish our prank already. It's two in the morning and I want to go to bed." Peter complained, but he couldn't hide his grin.

"Just one more thing." Remus pulled out his wand. He whispered a spell and started to write. Silver letters appeared on the wall.

_Don't mess with us!_

_The Marauders_

When he was done, Remus put his wand away.

James threw the cloak over them after they each picked up some bags of clothes. The bags were so heavy that they slowed the boys down, but the boys were determined to finish the prank so they kept the bags with them.

They dragged the bags outside and down to the lake. They threw the cloak off and sat on the ground, very tired.

For a few minutes, the boys sat, resting and looking at the sky.

"Guys, it's cold. Can we just finish already?" Peter asked.

The other three boys agreed, so they pulled their wands out. They used the levitation spell to lift the bags into the air. The bags were levitated to the middle of the lake where the boys turned the bags over and let all the clothes fall into the lake.

When they were finished, they grabbed the cloak and threw it back over themselves. They began their long trek back to the castle, tired and sweaty, but very satisfied.

"What's that?" Sirius stopped to look at a small hut on the grounds. The boys hadn't spent much time outside on Hogwarts ground because they were so busy exploring the inside of Hogwarts.

Remus glanced at it. "Hagrid's hut."

"He's the groundkeeper, right?" James asked.

"Yeah," Remus answered.

"We should visit him sometime." Sirius said.

"Fine. Can we go now? I'm tired and I want to be able to get up early tomorrow to see the result of our prank." Remus said.

Sirius and James exchanged evil grins behind Remus's back.

James and Sirius stood over Remus's bed the next morning. They both looked very tired, but very happy.

Sirius pulled Remus's blanket off of him, then James poured a glass of ice cold water on him. Remus screamed and shot up into a sitting position, coughing up water, when his mattress was flipped over. He fell to the ground, trapped under his mattress.

As soon as Remus got free, he turned to glare at Sirius and James, who were sitting on the bed next to his and smiling innocently at him. Remus didn't buy that for a second. He looked at the clock and frowned. "POTTER! BLACK! WHY THE HELL DID YOU WAKE ME UP AT SIX IN THE MORNING?"

"You said you wanted to get up early today." Sirius replied happily.

"I DIDN'T MEAN THIS EARLY!" Remus yelled.

"You don't have to yell at us. I mean really, this isn't our fault." James said merrily.

Remus's eyes twitched. "Then whose fault is it?"

James and Sirius looked at each other and grinned. They looked back at Remus with evil grins and said together, "Yours."

"How is it my fault?" Remus hissed.

"You said you wanted to get up early today but you didn't say how early you wanted to get up. We didn't want to upset you by waking you up later than you wanted, so we figured we would get you up at six." James replied, smiling innocently.

"So, you see, this is all your fault for not giving us an exact time to wake you." Sirius finished with a smirk.

Remus jumped back onto the beds and tackled Sirius over. They tumbled back onto Peter, who woke up with a start.

James watched his friends wrestle, amused. He turned to look at the shocked Peter. "Good morning, Pete."

"What's so good about it?" Peter grumbled, rubbing his bruised ribs. He looked at the clock. "It's six twenty in the morning. It's too early for this."

"We just get an early start today." James said cheerfully.

"How can you be so happy?" Pete asked. "I don't think I'll survive the day with only three hours of sleep."

James shrugged. He turned back to his friends to see that they had rolled off the bed and were now on the ground. "Okay kiddies, that is enough." James jumped off the beds and landed on the floor next to his friends.

Remus and Sirius stopped wrestling to look at James, then they looked at each other before turning back to James.

"You're not our boss." Remus went back to trying to get Sirius to let go of his wrist.

James sighed before joining in. He launched himself at the two boys and pulled Sirius off of Remus. Remus took that moment to pin James to the ground.

Peter watched his friends for a few minutes before falling back over, asleep.

After another ten minutes of wrestling, James stopped. "That's enough of this. I'm going to take a shower. Sirius, can you wake Peter back up?"

Sirius rubbed his sore chest. "Sure." He glanced at Peter. "YO PETER! GET UP YOU LAZY BUM!"

Peter screamed in surprise and tumbled onto the ground, trapped in is blanket.

Sirius grinned. "He's awake."

James rolled his eyes, but was laughing. He helped Peter get free of his blankets before going into the bathroom.

Remus flopped down onto the couch and stared at the ceiling.

Sirius stole a glance at Remus, before turning back to Peter. "You can go take the second shower."

The tone Sirius said it with made Peter realize that Sirius wanted him out of the room, so Peter hastily agreed. He looked back at Remus to see that he was now alert. Peter guessed that Remus heard Sirius's tone too and was worried about something. Peter hurriedly closed the door. Whatever was going on, he was sure he didn't want to be a part of it. Another fight was probably coming.

As soon as the bathroom door was closed, Sirius got off the floor and sat on the chair. He noticed the suspicion in Remus's eyes.

"What's up?" Remus asked carefully.

"I asked you something yesterday but you were able to divert my attention from the question. Remus, I want an answer now. What did McGonagall mean when she said you almost died? And don't lie to me." Sirius said, staring at Remus with determination in his eye to get a truthful answer.

Remus rubbed his forehead nervously. He moved his eyes from Sirius. His heart felt like it was going to pound out of his chest and his breathing was picking up. _'They can't know the truth. They can't know. I have to lie. Damn it, Sirius. You're making me lie so much more then I need to because you can't let things go.'_

Sirius watched Remus closely. He saw his breathing speed up and sweat rolling down his face and neck. "Remus, tell me the truth now."

Remus sighed. "Fine."

'_Come on Remus, think, think. You can do this.'_

"I've just been having a little problem with some Slytherins. They attacked me the other day in the corridor. They sent me to the Hospital Wing after they attacked me." Remus explained.

Remus was surprised at how easy the lie came. As much as he hated it, Remus had to admit that he was getting better at lying. He figured he'd just have to choose something that James and Sirius would believe. Being attacked by Slytherins was a good lie because they hated the Slytherins and looked for any reason to pick a fight with the. If Remus gave them a reason to fight with the Slytherins then they wouldn't question him anymore.

Just as he thought this, Sirius stood up angrily. "They did what?" He growled.

"It's nothing to worry about." Remus tried to calm his friends. He didn't want anyone hurt because of a lie he told. "Just calm down."

"Calm down?" Sirius snarled. "They are messing with my friends, with the Marauders. They have to pay for this."

Biting his lip, Remus looked at the floor. He got his friend off his back, but now the Slytherins were his target. He was out of trouble for now, but he had to the save the Slytherins from Sirius's and most likely, James's wrath. He didn't want them hurt because of him. How can he fix this without revealing that he lied _again_?

James came out of the bathroom to meet an unhappy sight. Sirius was pacing around the room and was looking angrily at everything. He shot a glare at James as he came into the room. James turned to Remus to see him staring at the floor and wringing his hands around each other nervously.

Sighing, James got dressed quickly. When he was clothed, he turned to his friends. "So, what's wrong this time?"

Sirius stopped pacing and crossed his arms. He looked at James furiously. "The Slytherins have been picking on Remus. They sent him to the Hospital Wing and are the reason he almost died."

"What?" James hissed angrily.

"That's wrong. I didn't almost die. McGonagall was exaggerating when she said that. I just got really hurt." Remus corrected, but was a shaky voice. He needed to get the Slytherins out of James's and Sirius's target range.

James crossed his arms. "It doesn't matter. They still hurt you. We have to teach them a lesson."

"Teach who a lesson?" Peter came back into the room.

Remus grabbed his clothes and went into the bathroom before anyone could answer Peter. He stepped into one of the shower stalls and banged his head onto the wall. "I can't believe I said that. They'll torture the Slytherins now. I have to fix this, but how? I can't tell them the truth." Remus talked to himself. "I don't like lying to them. How many lies am I going to have to tell them in this friendship? What kind of friendship is based around all these lies? But I don't…"

The bathroom door opened and clicked closed again, making Remus to stop talking. Footsteps were heard. Remus heard them walk to the second shower stall. There was a sound of clothes being removed then the water being turned on.

Realizing that it was Sirius, Remus sighed. He rubbed his abused head before turning his water on too. He let the water run down his body with closed eyes. This was going to be a long day.

The Marauders, minus Remus, sat down at their regular seats in the Great Hall. James and Sirius were glaring at the Slytherin table. A little ways down the table, Remus sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He looked at the Slytherin table to see that so far there were only girls there. The Marauders didn't do anything to them since they couldn't get up the girls' step.

"When do you think those gits will get here?" Sirius asked.

James looked at the Great Hall doors and smirked. "Now."

Sirius looked where James was looking to see a bunch of angry Slytherin boys coming in. They were all wearing girl pajamas at all different colors with little flowers or hearts on them.

Students from the other three houses took one look at them and burst out laughing.

"Wait until you see Snivellus." James took a few seconds to stop laughing to say this, before he started laughing again.

Sirius searched the crowd of boys for Snape. After a few minutes of searching, Sirius fell off his seat. He was clutching his sides in pain and had tears of laughter rolling down his face. He found Snape and it was the best of all.

Snape was wearing a pink nightgown with the words 'I'm a dunderhead' in bright yellow letters that were surrounded by a heart. He also had hair that was six colors: red, gold, blue, bronze, yellow, and black.

Professor Slughorn stared his students in shock. "Boys…."

Professor," A seventh year Prefect stepped forward. "I don't mean to interrupt, but all our clothes were stolen last night and our pajamas were changed into what we are wearing now. Also, our common room has been changed to and we got a message."

Slughorn raised a brow. "And what would this message be?"

"'Don't mess with us. The Marauders.'" The Prefect said angrily. He looked at all the other students venomously.

Professor McGonagall stood up. "We'll have to find their clothes and the students responsible for this. Rest assured, they will be severely punished for this."

Remus smirked and looked down the table at his friends to see them grinning broadly. James saw him looking and turned to Sirius to say something. Sirius looked towards Remus and winked.

Remus smirked at his plate. The plan to change the Marauders back into a foursome has officially begun.

**A/N: Please review!**

**I noticed a mistake from an earlier chapter. I called Shawn, Shawn Oliver. Don't know what I was thinking when I wrote that. His name is Shawn Wood, not Shawn Oliver.**


	17. Chapter 17: Driving People Insane

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

**The Marauders Year 1**

**Chapter 17: Driving People Insane**

Remus got up from finishing breakfast just as his three friends stood up. They all sent him evil glares, so Remus sent one right back at them.

James led Sirius and Peter out of the Great Hall and to their first class, which was Defense Against the Dark Arts. He turned his head to ask Peter something, but stopped when he saw Remus round the corner with a smirk on his face.

Growling, James stopped and turned around completely. "What are you smirking at?"

"Am I not allowed to smile anymore?" Remus came to stop in front of the three.

"You did something." James said, looking around for anything suspicious.

"You are so paranoid." Remus replied as he shoved his hands in his pockets and walked passed his three friends. He stopped after walking a few feet and turned back around to grin at them. "By the way, I love your robes. They certainly stand out."

With that said Remus spun around and marched onward to his class.

The three boys paled and looked at their plain black robes. James looked at his sleeves and inside them. Peter was trying to look at the back of his robes without taking them off. Sirius took his robes off to look at them better.

"I don't see anything wrong with them." James said, fixing his sleeves. He looked at Sirius to see him looking very pale and spluttering with rage as he stared at the back of his robes. "What? Did you figure at what Remus did?"

Sirius turned the back of his robes to James and Peter. It was bedazzled with green and silver stones and said "I love Slytherins!"

James let out a low whistle. "Wow! That is low." He shook his head, before his eyes widened. He ripped his robe off and looked at the back of his. His was bedazzled with pink stones and said "I love Lily Evans!" James stared at it shocked. "I don't even like Evans. She's such a goody-two shoes."

"What about yours, Pete?" Sirius asked. The angry was clear in his voice.

Peter stared at his bedazzled robe. The stones were a light purple color. "I'm an idiot" was written in the center of his robes. "That's mean."

"Gentlemen, you know what this means?" James asked, staring at his friends.

Sirius nodded his head, while Peter looked confused.

James sighed. "A prank war, Pete. We're not going to take this sitting down."

Peter went from confused to worried. "But we've never been able to prank him successfully."

"That changes today," Sirius declared.

Peter groaned. "I don't think I'm going to survive today."

A bell sounded around the castle, making the boys groan. Not only were their robes ruined, but now they were late to Defense. Cursing Remus angrily, the boys pulled their robes back on and ran the rest of the way to their class.

James slammed the classroom door open, breathing heavily. Sirius and Peter came in behind him, rubbing their ribs and gasping for breath. Remus smirked at them from his seat, earning him glares from the three late boys.

"I DON'T LOVE SLYTHERINS!" Sirius yelled immediately as soon as he caught his breath.

The whole class looked at him strangely, except Remus who was snickering into his hand. "Keep telling yours that, Black. Just keep on living in your fantasy world." Remus replied.

Sirius made to lung at Remus, but James and Peter grabbed the back of his robes to keep him back. Sirius put up quite a struggle though. He wanted to make Remus pay for putting what he did on the back of his robe. No one dares to say he loves Slytherins. NO ONE!

"Sorry we are late, Professor. Someone distracted us." James sent an annoyed glare at Remus, as he continued to hold Sirius back.

"What did I do?" Remus asked innocently.

"You know what you did! Now fix it!" Sirius said angrily.

"Calm down, Black." Remus replied. "It's a simple counter-charm, but I'm not going to give it to you. You have to find it yourself."

Sirius growled at Remus as James and Peter dragged him to the other side of the room to sit far away from Remus. They didn't need Sirius tackling and pummeling Remus into a pulp in the middle of class in front of their teacher.

Professor Rana sighed. "Boys, the second you entered my class, the fight stops. I will not have fighting in my class."

James nodded his head at her before sitting next to Sirius in the back corner of the room with Peter. He turned to Sirius with a frown. "Will you relax? This is all part of the plan. You knew he was going to prank us. You don't see Peter or me freaking out, do you?"

Sirius sighed. "I know, but saying I love Slytherins is a really low blow. How could he do that?"

"How could you say his father hated him and wanted to die to get away from him the other day?" James retorted.

Sirius frowned and looked at his desk. He hated being reminded of that.

Peter looked up from his doodle. "It could be worse."

"How?" Sirius hissed.

Peter grinned. "He could have put 'I love Severus Snape' on it."

Sirius screamed and clawed at his ears, while James and Peter burst out laughing.

Professor's Rana's eyes snapped to the two boys laughing and the third that was on the ground, twitching. "You three, what is so funny and what is wrong with Mr. Black? You know I enjoy a good laugh, so please tell me."

James shook his head still laughing. "Sirius is just fine ma'am."

Rana sighed. "Then you'll be quiet so I can teach my class and get Mr. Black back in his chair."

Peter and James continued to shake with silent laughter, while Sirius got back in his chair and shot an annoyed glare at them. "How dare you say that to me? I'm going to have nightmares for weeks now."

"That scene was priceless when Peter said that. It'll be worth waking up to your screaming for a few weeks." James replied before looking at Remus, who was writing fast as he took notes. "Anyway, I say it's time for our revenge against Mr. Lupin. What do you say?"

Sirius's eyes lit up. "Oh, yes it is. I'll teach him not to mess with me."

"One good thing came from Remus putting 'I love Slytherins' on your cloak." Peter said nervously.

"And what is that?" Sirius growled, glaring at Peter.

Peter flinched away in fear and looked at the ground. "Um…well, you're really mad and even I could believe you guys are still fighting, even though I know you aren't fighting anymore."

James smiled. "He's right. This will work to our advantage."

"Maybe I am mad him," Sirius suggested.

"Not again," Peter groaned.

"Relax, even if I was mad at him, I wouldn't make it a big fight again. Having Remy hate us is a horrible feeling. I'm not going to end our friendship again." Sirius replied.

"Good, because I would pummel you if you made us lose his friendship again," James said.

"Potter! Black! Pettigrew!" Rana shouted as she stormed over to their table. "If I have to speak to you again, I will separate you three. Understand?"

"Yes ma'am." Three voices chorused.

Professor Rana stared at the three of them for a few minutes with narrowed eyes. She turned away mumbling about how she should just move them right now and not wait, but a quick look around the room told her why she didn't. She would have to move kids all around the class to get the three boys separated. Rana wouldn't punish the whole class because of three kids. She could move one of the boys because there was an empty seat, but she wanted to come out of this class sane. She refused to put one of them next to Remus when they were fighting.

When Professor Rana walked back to the front of the class, James, Sirius, and Peter put their heads back together to continue their conversation. Peter kept his eyes on Rana to keep watch for if she turns to look at them. Sirius watched Remus to make sure he wouldn't fire any more spells at them. He didn't think he would since they were in class and it was their turn to attack.

"So, what is our retaliation?" James asked quietly.

"It has to be really embarrassing." Sirius hissed, still angry about what Remus did to his robes.

James leaned back in his seat and cupped his hands behind his head to rest his head in them. He looked around the room as his mind worked on coming up with an idea.

"Rana is glaring at us." Peter whispered a few minutes later.

"Will you three pay attention?" Rana snapped. She never had a problem with these three before so she was a little confused and annoyed at them now. "What could be so im…"

Rana trailed off and stared at her three students with wide eyes and a smile tugging at her lips. Everyone else in the class looked at the three friends once before they started laughing.

Sirius, who took his eyes off Remus to look at Rana, looked back at Remus to see him smirking and sliding his wand back into his robe. Growling, Sirius turned back to James to tell him that Remus did something. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out as he stared at James.

James looked at him shocked. "What happened to your hair?"

"What do you mean what happened to my hair? What's wrong with it?" Sirius screeched. His hands went up to his head. His hair felt short to him. "IS MY HAIR SHORT?"

James nodded his head. "And bright orange."

Sirius whipped around to stare at Remus. He pointed an accusing finger at him. "YOU!"

"Yes me," Remus replied cheerfully. "I told you yesterday that I would cut it."

Peter looked at James to see he had….."PURPLE HAIR!

"What are you talking about, Pete? And by the way, your skin is blue." James swirled in his seat to look at Peter.

"Your hair is purple." Peter said, pointing a shaky finger out it.

James turned to Remus to glare at him angrily. "REMUS JOHN LUPIN, THIS MEANS WAR!"

Remus smirked back at him.

Rana groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. "This is going to be a long day." She turned away from the Marauders and back to the class. She smiled weakly at them. "Since I want to stay sane and not deal with four angry boys who are out for each others' blood, I am ending the lesson here. Class dismissed."

The class cheered at being released an hour early. They packed up their belongings and ran out the classroom, grinning. The only one who wasn't grinning was Lily. She stayed back to glare at the Marauders who were still in the classroom. Remus was packing up his stuff, while the other three were standing in the back, shooting glares at Remus.

"And I suppose you find that funny." Lily snarled, gripping the strap of her bag tightly. She shot glares at the four boys. "You are making things hard for all the professors. Why can't you just behave?" She sent a glare at Remus. "And you, I thought you were better than Potter, Black, and Pettigrew. Apparently, I was wrong. You are just as bad as them with your pranks."

Remus frowned and turned to Lily. "Lily…"

Lily ignored him and turned back to the other three. "This is your fault. You just had to say his father actually hated him and that's why he saved Remus."

Remus stepped back at the mention of that part of their fight. He shot an upset glance at his friends before running out of the room.

Lily watched him go. She looked shocked at what she said. She looked at the other three to see if they would go to Remus, but they just stood there with impassive faces, not moving. James raised a brow and Sirius crossed his arms, uncaring. Figuring since it was her fault, Lily ran after Remus to apologize.

James stared at Lily shocked. He couldn't believe she would say that. She knew how sensitive that topic was to Remus. After a quick look at Sirius and Peter, he knew he couldn't move. They had to make it look like they were still mad at Remus. Remus would want to continue the prank after what Lily said. He would need the laughter it would bring. They couldn't run after him so they just stood staring at Lily indifferently.

When Lily was gone, Sirius turned to James and Peter, frowning. "I can't believe she mentioned that. Remus doesn't need a constant reminder of that."

Lily raced after Remus down the corridor. The young wizard was running through all the halls to get away from Lily. He knew she was following him and didn't want her to catch him. He was too upset to talk with her after her reminder of his father.

"Remus, stop please! I'm sorry!" Lily called after her friend as he turned another corner of the school. She had no idea where he was going, but was determined not to lose sight of him. They needed to talk now and fix this. She wasn't going to let their friendship end over something she said. She never wanted to hurt him.

Remus shook his head as tears started to fill up in his eyes. He turned down another corner as he heard Lily yell out to him. Remus slowed down some to catch his breath. As he slowed down, he felt someone run into his back, making him fell to the ground. "Ow." He said in a strained voice.

"Sorry," Lily's kind, gentle voice said. She pushed herself off of him and stood up. After offering him a hand up, Lily guided them back down the way they came to head to the library. "Remus, I'm really sorry about what I said in Defense. I didn't mean to say that. I was just annoyed that we got dismissed from class early. I'm really bad in Defense and needed all the time we have in the class."

Remus nodded his head at her, but didn't say anything. He didn't trust himself to speak. If he opened his mouth, he would either cry and collapse or he would yell at her for about what she said in class. The contrast reminders of the fight he and his friends had last week were not doing anything good for his mind.

Lily glanced at Remus when he didn't say anything. She saw that he was frowning and looked deep in thought. "Remus, please forgive me."

A quick glance at Lily told Remus that she was being sincere about what she was saying. Sighing, Remus shoved his hands in his pockets. "Lily, it's not that I'm mad. I'm just upset. I don't like being reminded of that fight from last week. I'm trying to forget about it."

"You should really make it up to them. They haven't been the same since the fight." Lily replied, pushing some of her hair out of her face. "I think some of the changes are good, but you being happy and being friends with them is better. They really want their friend back."

Remus didn't reply. He knew by the end of this day that the school would know they are friends again.

The two walked together the rest of the way to the library in silence. Lily turned to Remus when they stopped. "I'm going to go study. Do you want to join me?" Lily asked.

Remus shook his head. "No thanks. I think I'm going to go for a walk."

"You're not mad at me, are you?" Lily asked.

"No, Lils, I'm not mad. I just want some alone time." Remus replied. With a smile at Lily, Remus turned around and walked down the corridor deep in thought. He had to think of some more ideas to use against his friends. Something to go with their new looks. He knew they wouldn't change what he did to them already. It was part of their plan to keep everything they did to each other the same until after dinner that night. Of course, no one will know why they are doing that.

James, Sirius, and Peter walked outside to enjoy their hour of freedom before Charms in peace. They sat under the beech tree which they had claimed as theirs recently. It was a little chilly outside since it was still winter, but they cast warming charms on themselves to keep warm.

They were joking and laughing loudly when Sirius nudged James's shoulder and motioned to the entrance of the school with his head. James looked where Sirius was looking to see Remus coming outside, looking deep in thought.

James grinned at his friends. "What do you say to a little revenge for our _lovely _new looks?"

Sirius stood up immediately. "I'm in."

James stood up and brushed the snow off of himself. "I knew you would agree. So, what shall we do to him? You said it have to really embarrass him, right?"

"Yes,"' Sirius was smirking and looking in Remus's direction with his wand in his hand. "I'll teach him not to mess with me."

"Should we fear for Remus's safety?" Peter asked James quietly. He was looking at Sirius warily.

"I think we should be scared for Remus, but also be happy that we aren't his target." James looked at Sirius to see him whispering something before smiling brightly, and putting his wand away. He crossed his arms smugly. "Sirius, what did you do?"

Sirius nodded his head towards Remus.

Nervously, James looked at Remus. He sighed in relief to see that Sirius only put a flashy sign above Remus's head that said, 'I'm a fairy.'

"I didn't know that Remus is gay." Peter said behind James and Sirius.

"He isn't. That's the prank." Sirius replied. "That'll teach that prat."

"My turn," James said excitedly. He pulled his wand out and started walking towards Remus. "HEY REMUS!"

Remus, who was glaring at the sign above him, looked at James annoyed. "I am not a fairy!"

Sirius snorted. "Sure you aren't."

"He's trying to hide the fact that he loves Snivellus. That's why he's always tells us off about hexing him." James was frowning as he said this. "That's just disgusting, Remus."

Remus growled and pulled his wand out. "Please, as if I would love a greasy git like him."

"Look at that, Jamesie. He thinks he can take three of us on at once." Sirius mocked.

"Cool it, Sirius. This is a game. I think you are taking it much more serious than you should." James whispered before turning back to Remus. "We really do want to thank you for our new looks, Remus."

"You're welcome. I just knew you three idiots would love them." Remus snarled at them with a smirk tugging at his lips. This was a lot more fun than he thought it would be. He was finding it hard not to break down and laugh until he went hoarse.

James smirked. "We want to thank you properly."

Remus snorted. "You guys don't know what proper is."

"Do too," James replied childish, before reverting back to his calm, cool self. "Let me show you."

Without being given a second to think, Remus was hit by a spell. He was thrown back a few feet and landed with a 'thud' on the ground. His wand went flying out of his hand. Remus groaned as he hit the ground, then yelled in shock and pain when a person landed on top of him.

"Get off me," Remus growled. He lifted his head off the ground to see Sirius sitting on his chest, smirking down at Remus.

Sirius shook his head. He scooped some snow into his hand and smashed it into Remus's face. As soon as he did that, Sirius rolled off of Remus and went to pick up Remus's wand while he was distracted with the snow in his eyes and mouth.

After wiping the snow out of his eyes, Remus sat up to see his three friends going back inside. Rolling his eyes, Remus began looking for his wand, only to find that it was missing. Remus shoved his hands in his pockets to keep them warm as he stomped back to the castle. He had an idea of where he would find his wand.

"You're a fairy?" An amused voice asked him when he stomped into the Entrance Hall.

Remus stopped walking and turned to see Lily and her friends sitting on the Entrance Hall steps. He sighed and walked over to them. "No, Black did this as revenge and seeing as he took my wand I can't get rid of it. What are you doing here anyway, Lily? I thought you were going to the library."

"I just needed to get a book for an essay I need to write." Lily replied, smiling at Remus. She pulled her wand out and pointed it at Remus. "I'll get rid of that sign for you, okay? You don't want to hunt down Black, Potter, and Pettigrew with that sign above your head. You'll get a lot of mockery with it above you." After muttering the correct spell, Lily put her wand away as the sign disappeared.

Remus grinned at her. The Marauders agreed not to remove the spells themselves, but they didn't say anything about getting someone else to remove them. He wouldn't get into trouble since he didn't break any of the rules by having Lily remove the sign.

"By the way, if you're looking for Black he went in that direction. Potter and Pettigrew went into the Great Hall." Lily told him while she pointed up the Entrance Hall steps. "I believe I saw him twirling your wand in his hand and smirking."

"Thanks Lils." Remus began walking pass the group of girls when one of them reached out and grabbed his arm. Remus turned to her. "Yes?"

The girl smiled with laughter filling her eyes. "Your shirt is really nice."

Remus looked at her confused. "My shirt?"

"I'm guessing Potter did that if you don't know about it." Lily said, rolling her eyes.

Grimacing, Remus looked down at his shirt. He saw the word 'ASS' written in big red letters on his shirt. Groaning, Remus crossed his arms to cover it up. "That jerk. Just wait until I get my wand back. I'll teach him not mess with me." Remus declared as he stomped up the steps.

"This is going to be a very interesting day." Mali, one of Lily's friends, said.

Remus ran down the hall stopping every now and then when he saw a student or professor to see if they knew where Sirius went. Whenever he saw a professor, he would slow to a casual stroll so he wouldn't get yelled at. After fifteen minutes of running, Remus turned a corner and ran right into the person he was hunting down.

"Lupin!" Sirius growled as he picked himself up from the ground.

Remus stood up and dusted himself off. "Where is my wand, Black?"

Sirius smirked at him smugly. "Don't know what you're talking about."

The young werewolf was ready to pounce on and mangle his friend. He clenched his fists at his side. "Yes, you do. You stole my wand when it went flying out of my hand." Remus said this through clenched teeth. "Just give it back. You had no right to take my wand."

"Yes, I did." Sirius replied.

Remus snarled at him. "And what right gave you the permission to take my wand?"

"The one where I decided I didn't want to get hexed again." Sirius said.

"Give me my wand!" Remus nearly shouted this.

Before Sirius could reply, a door slammed opened to their left. An angry McGonagall stood in the doorway with her arms crossed. Behind her, a class of fifth year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws were watching what was going on curiously.

"What are you two doing out of class?" McGonagall started, raising a brow. She took note of Remus's shirt and Sirius's hair and robes.

"Professor Rana let us go an hour early." Remus explained to her before turning back to Sirius.

"I don't have it anymore." Sirius's smug voice said.

Remus's hand twitched. "Where is it?"

Sirius crossed his arms and smirked. "Not telling."

"Black," Remus said in a dangerous voice.

"That's Mr. Black!" McGonagall asked shocked. "What happened to your hair? And why are you two fighting?"

"Lupin here happened to my hair. He cut it off and made it orange." Sirius said angrily.

"Mr. Lupin, I'm…" McGonagall started as she turned to Remus.

"Professor, Black stole my wand after Potter did this to my shirt," Remus motioned to his shirt as he said this. "And now Black won't give me my wand back."

Sirius laughed rudely. "That's cause I don't have your wand anymore."

Remus's eye twitched. "WHERE IS IT?"

"Mr. Lupin, please don't scream." McGonagall scolded.

"But Professor…" Remus started to whine.

McGonagall held up a hand to stop him from going any farther. "Mr. Lupin, I understand that you are mad and want your wand back. Just be quiet for a few minutes." The young professor turned to Sirius. "Mr. Black, I understand that you are mad about what Remus did. But that does not excuse you to steal Mr. Lupin's wand. Return his wand immediately." She gave Sirius a steely glare.

Sirius grinned at her in a sadistic way. "James has it now, so I can't return it."

Remus's eye twitched.

"Where is Mr. Potter?" McGonagall asked in a calm, annoyed voice.

"Great Hall," Sirius replied in a bored tone.

McGonagall sighed before turning to her class. "I will be right back kids. I must deal with this. Just work on transfiguring your cup. I'll help you when I return."

"I can't believe they are still fighting." Shawn said as he turned back to his cup.

"Thought we already agreed that they are never going to be friends again?" Angel replied.

"I know, but their friendship was just so great. It's a shame that it had to end." Shawn said.

Remus and Sirius walked behind McGonagall as she led them to the Great Hall. They were having a glaring contest as they walked to keep their act up. Both of them had twitching mouths as they were trying really hard not burst out laughing right there.

Lily and her friends looked up from their conversation when McGonagall walked pass them with two of the Marauders trailing behind here, engaged in a glaring contest. They looked ready to strangle each other. As they were walking, they kept coming close to running into things since they weren't paying attention to where they were going.

"Mr. Potter!" McGonagall yelled when she entered the Great Hall with the two Marauders. She paused when she saw that his hair was purple. She shook her head bemused.

"Yes Professor?" James asked innocently, smirking at Remus's shirt.

"Return Mr. Lupin's wand to him." McGonagall ordered, pointing a finger at Remus, who turned his attention away from Sirius to look at James angrily.

James looked above Remus's head to see that the sign was gone. He glowered at Remus. "Sorry, Professor, but I will not give that prat his wand back."

"And why not?" Remus growled.

"Because you're a bloody prat who doesn't deserve to know magic," Sirius suggested scathingly

Even though he knew that Sirius was just pretending and didn't mean what he said, it really hurt Remus inside. Being a werewolf, Remus felt he didn't deserve to learn magic. Most werewolves can't do magic to begin with since no one would take them into their schools to teach them. Remus was lucky to be able to come to Hogwarts at all. Hearing his friend say he didn't deserve magic was a really low blow to him, but he couldn't say anything to him since his friend didn't know that he was a werewolf, which was the way he wanted it.

"Mr. Potter, return his wand now." McGonagall said angrily. "I don't have time for this. I have a class I need to ge…"

A bell rang loudly, cutting off McGonagall.

McGonagall sighed. "Potter return Lupin's wand now!"

James glanced at the furious McGonagall and threw Remus's wand at Remus, who caught it.

"Twenty points from each of you for everything you did today and you will each add another detention to your list of detentions." McGonagall said before turning around. "Now get to your next class."

Remus pocketed his wand and after sending an evil glare at his friends, marched out of the Great Hall with his nose in the air like a very pompous person.

"Pompous prat!" Sirius snarled loud enough for everyone who watched the scene to hear.

In Charms class, Remus sat next to Lily with two of her friends behind them and the other two in the desk next to them. Lily smiled at him, after giving his shirt a nasty shirt. "Why don't you fix that? It would be better than walking around with that on your shirt."

Remus shrugged. "Don't know what spell James used to do this so I can't fix it. I can't go change because I didn't have time since I had to spend my free time getting my wand back which took longer than it should have. Black and Potter are annoying idiots."

"I saw McGonagall coming out of the Great Hall after you got your wand back. She didn't look happy." Lily said, frowning. "Actually, I heard her mumbling about how she wants you guys to be friends again so she doesn't have to deal with your fighting. I think she would rather have to deal with you four at once as a group of friends than as those three idiots against you in a huge fight."

"What? Is it much worse with us as enemies than as friends?" Remus asked, raising a brow.

Mali chuckled behind Remus. "Much worse. Look at them now. They are glaring at you; probably hope you die with how evil the glare is."

"Too bad looks don't kill." Remus replied as he turned around to smile at Mali.

Remus turned his eyes to his friends to see them glaring murderous at them. Smiling brightly at them, he turned around as the bell chimed for the class to start. Even with his back turned, Remus could still feel his friends' glares burning into his back.

After class, Remus ran out of the class alone. When he entered the corridor, he went to the wall and leaned against it to wait for his friends to come out of the room. He waved to Lily and her friends as they passed him. Lily gave him a suspicious look but didn't pause to confront him about her suspicions.

When Remus saw his friends come out of the class, he smirked and pulled his wand out of his pocket. They all stopped when they saw Remus and pulled their wands out too.

"You really want to try it, Lupin?" Sirius asked icily.

Remus smirked and fired a spell at Sirius without giving Sirius a warning. Sirius fell to the ground and rubbed his face where he was hit.

James growled and fired a spell at Remus that made the young werewolf fall to his knee. While Remus was distracted, James kneeled next to Sirius to check on him. "What did that prat do?" James asked.

"I don't know." Peter said as he looked at Sirius who had his head buried in his arms.

"Sirius, get up." James ordered. He pulled Sirius's arms away from his face and pulled him to his feet only to drop Sirius in shock half-way to his feet. He stared at Sirius with a frown on his face. "This isn't good."

Sirius growled. "What's not good? And why did you drop me?"

Peter's eyes widened when he saw what was on Sirius's forehead. He slowly inched away from Sirius so he wasn't anywhere near him when he found out and attempted to murder Remus.

Remus pulled himself to his feet and dusted himself off. He looked at himself to see what James did. Immediately he saw that his hands were all scaly and blue. He touched his face to feel the scales there too. Remus shuddered at the touch. It felt really weird.

"Well.….,your forehead says in big red letters," James cast an uneasy look at Peter before looking back at Sirius and continuing. "The spell Remus used put," James cleared his throat nervously. 'I love Severus Snape' on your forehead."

Sirius stared at James blankly for a few seconds before he saw red. He turned to Remus, who was staring at his hands annoyed. His grip on his wand tightened as he marched over to Remus. "YOU!" Sirius bellowed as he hit Remus on the top of his head with his wand.

Remus looked at Sirius angrily. "What?"

"Look what you did to my forehead." Sirius snarled as he pointed to his forehead with his wand.

Remus stared at Sirius's forehead. "I didn't know you liked Snape. Then again, I should have known that you did. I mean, you do always pick on him. It's so obvious now that you like him."

Sirius's eye twitched. He threw his wand away and tackled Remus to the ground. His hands grabbed the front of Remus's robes and started to shake him violently. "I don't like that bloody git. He's a greasy haired prat and he's a Slytherin."

James grabbed Sirius's arms and pulled him off of Remus. "Sirius, no, if you kill him you will be expelled, then you'll have to go back to your family. Do you want that?"

Sirius growled, but let Remus go. "You're just lucky I don't want to go back to my parents."

Remus sighed in relief and sat up. His relief didn't last long as Sirius picked his wand back up and fired a spell at him before stalking away. A grey cloud appeared above him and it started to rain on him. Thunder and lightning happened every few minutes.

James and Peter walked away after seeing the result of Sirius's spell.

Remus picked his wand back up and fired a spell at Peter and James each before he lost sight of them. Peter's shoe laces tried together, making the young wizard trip and James's pants turned into a skirt.

When he felt a breeze around his legs, James looked down to see that he was now wearing a skirt. His eyes widened and his mouth was hanging open.

Peter looked up from falling on his face. He saw that James's pants were a skirt now. "Remus is taking this really seriously."

"Yes, he is. Guess that means we need to start taking this just as serious." James replied. He grinned evilly. "We need to find Sirius. I just had a great idea!"

With that, James and Peter ran down the stairs and to the Great Hall for lunch thinking that Sirius would be there, eating lunch.

Peter and James sat down in their regular seats in the Great Hall. Sirius nodded at them to show them that he knew they were there, but didn't look up from his meal. He was still angry at Remus about what was on his forehead and didn't want to say anything at the moment. The last time he spoke while he was angry, he really hurt Remus feelings. He felt that he might say something mean about Remus again.

"Sirius, I got an idea for our retaliation against Remus." James started quietly. He looked around to make sure no one was nearby to hear him. "But before I tell you that, how mad are you at Remus? I don't want you to do anything that could really ruin our friendship."

Sirius growled. "Look at what he put on my forehead. Do you know how many people snickered or mocked me on the way down here?"

James sighed. "Look, I'll break the rules just this once and remove it for you, okay? Remus did go a little far this time, but he had to make it seem like we were really fighting. He'll understand and won't care if I break the rules this one time."

"Thanks," Sirius replied.

James made sure there were no Prefects or teachers near them to yell at him for doing magic in the Great Hall before he pulled his wand out. He waved his wand as he said the counter-course. Instantly, the words disappeared from Sirius head. James nodded his head, satisfied, and put his wand away.

"Yes, I'm mad at Remus for doing that. I can't believe he would ever put that on me." Sirius growled. He looked at the Great Hall doors and saw a wet and annoyed Remus coming in. He smirked very satisfied. "You know, I should make him get shocked by the lightning too."

James frowned. "It won't hurt him, will it?"

"No, just give him an electric shock, although a little painful." Sirius replied.

"Sirius…" James started a little apprehensive.

Not listening to anything from James, Sirius pulled his wand out and pointed it at Remus and whispered a spell. As soon as he was finished, Sirius put his wand away and watched happily as Remus yelped in surprise and rubbed his head.

James sighed. "Sirius, was that necessary?"

Sirius raised a brow.

"Fine, go ahead and be that way, but now back to my idea to get revenge." James said.

"I'm listening." Sirius replied, but didn't look at James. He was watching Remus as he continued to get shocked every few minutes.

James raised a brow. "Are you listening to me?"

"Yeah," Sirius said.

James snorted. "Okay, sure, whatever you say. Here's my plan."

When James was finished telling the two his plan, he waited and stared at Sirius to see what his reaction would be. Throughout his explanation, Sirius's face was unchanging and still staring at Remus. Now that he was done, Sirius tore his eyes from Remus and stared at James. His face broke into a grin.

"That's a great idea, James. When should we pull it off?" Sirius asked.

"In a few minutes," James said. He glanced at the Head Table to see all the teachers there and smirked.

Sirius looked back at Remus and laughed. "Look at Remus."

James turned around to look down the table where Remus was sitting. His hair was messed up and sticking into the air with one of his eyes twitching from all the shocks he was getting. He looked like a mad scientist. Chuckling, James turned back around. "Very nice, Siri, very nice."

"Thank you, thank you." Sirius mocked bowed.

"Ready for my masterful revenge prank against little Remy," James asked.

Sirius smirked. "Of course I am."

James nodded his head and turned to Peter. "Peter, distract the teachers with the dungbombs."

Peter nodded his head.

"And we will hex Remy." Sirius smirked evilly.

Peter pulled the dungbombs out of his bag. He lit them and threw them all around the Great Hall and a few out the Head Table. This caused utter chaos when the dungbombs went off. Everyone was covering their faces and coughing at the horrible smell in the Great Hall. McGonagall stood up angrily at the Head Table and glared at everyone in the Great Hall.

While everyone was distracted with the smell and trying to figure out who threw the dungbombs, James and Sirius pulled out their wands and turned towards Remus. They each fired a different spell at Remus before putting their wands away and watching the results of their hexes.

The first thing that happened was that Remus's ear started to twitch as a result of the Twitchy Ears Hex. Next, Remus's skin broke out into boils from the Furnunculus hex. Remus screamed in surprise and jumped out of his seat.

Smirking at the perfect opportunity, Sirius pulled his wand back out and fired another spell at Remus which was the jelly-legs jinx. Instantly, Remus's legs began to wobble and he fell onto his face where he groaned and didn't bother trying to get up.

James shot a disapproving look at Sirius. "Why did you do that?"

"Got to make it look like I hate Remus, don't I?" Sirius asked smugly.

James rolled his eyes. He looked back at the teachers to see McGonagall marching towards them with a frown on her face. "Black, Potter, Pettigrew, I want you three in my office now. Ms. Evans, please escort Mr. Lupin to the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey should have a potion to cure Mr. Lupin's boil problem."

"Of course, Professor." Lily sent a disapproving glare at James, Sirius, and Peter before she pulled Remus to his feet and practically dragged the young werewolf out of the Great Hall. She was grumbling the whole way to the Hospital Wing about immature prats.

When they reached the Hospital Wing and Remus was on one of the beds, Remus thanked Lily and told her she could head to Herbology without him. He said that he would meet her in class. Lily hesitantly left the Hospital Wing. She didn't want to leave him behind, but he insisted. He knew she wouldn't want to be late to class.

"I can't believe you three would do that. Mr. Lupin is your friend. Why would you do that him?" McGonagall asked angrily.

The three boys in front of her had the nerve to stay looking indifferently. Not one of them showed any remorse about what they did to Remus, on the outside at least. On the inside, each of them was feeling guilty. They knew they shouldn't be since Remus didn't care. This was, after all, his plan. He wanted them to have fun doing this.

"It's what he gets for being a big prat." Sirius said nonchalantly.

McGonagall huffed and looked James. "Mr. Potter, why are you wearing a skirt?"

James looked at his skirt and crossed his arms. "Lupin did this after Charms."

"And why have you not fixed it back. In fact, why haven't any of you fixed anything Mr. Lupin did to you?" McGonagall asked.

The boys just shrugged since they couldn't tell her the truth.

McGonagall stared at the boys in front of her. "I probably don't even want to know." She pinched the bridge of her nose. Why did these four boys have to be in her house? "To make this simple on all of us since I have a class to teach and you three have to get to your next class. Twenty points from each of you and another detention each and when you see Mr. Lupin next, please inform him that he has the same punishment."

"Yes ma'am." Three voices chorused.

McGonagall nodded her head and pointed at her office door to show that the boys were dismissed.

The three boys ran out of her office. They grinned at her class who was waiting for their teacher to come out of her office. James and Sirius waved at the confused class before bolting out of the class, dragging Peter behind them.

"I was wondering, how are we supposed to end this prank war?" Peter asked as the boys walked to their class.

"Remus said that he was going to end it with a final prank at dinner. I wonder what his prank is going to be." James said.

Remus made it to the Greenhouse just as his three friends reached it. He sent a glare in their direction.

"Hey Lupin!" Sirius yelled at him as Remus started to open the Greenhouse door.

"What?" Remus snapped.

"McGonagall told us to tell you that we have another detention added to our list of detentions." Sirius replied.

Remus groaned. He was actually trying to avoid getting detention. He may be involved in their detention competition, but he didn't want all these detentions. When this prank war was over, he was going to have to talk with his friends about taking it easy for a few weeks and not get any more detentions for a while. They already had about four weeks of detentions stocked up.

"Fine," Remus replied before walking into the Greenhouse.

At dinner that night, three of the Marauders shot a worried look at Remus, who was staring back at them with a calm, unconcerned expression. His eyes moved to the Slytherin table then back to his friends, who raised a brow. They each looked at the Slytherin table.

At the Slytherin table, all the Slytherins were frozen. None of them were moving. They just sat there, staring at the person who sat opposite them.

After a few minutes of nothing happening, the boys turned back to look at Remus confused. Remus smirked and pulled his wand out. He discreetly whispered a spell while he had his wand pointed at the Slytherin table.

Instantly, the Slytherins woke up from their frozen state and jumped to their feet. They all started to act all goofy. Some of them started singing and jumping around the Great Hall like little five year olds. Others were doing cart wheels around the hall or throwing food at other Slytherins. They were doing everything that wasn't the perfect pure-blooded way.

"What is making them do that?" Sirius asked, laughing.

"It has to be a potion." Peter said.

Sirius looked at him confused. "What potion could do this?

"Who did this?" McGonagall asked immediately. She was eyeing the three Marauders suspiciously.

The Marauders looked at her and frowned.

"Professor, I can honestly say, I had nothing to do with this. I don't even know what potion this is." Sirius said.

Slughorn stood up too. "I have to agree with Mr. Black there. The potion that did this isn't taught into fifth year. There's no way they could do this."

McGonagall didn't look convinced, but since she had no proof, she let it go.

The three Marauders looked at Remus who was laughing. He winked at them.

James and Sirius smirked. "This was Remus's doing." James whispered.

"Let's go talk to him." Sirius said.

Peter nodded his head in agreement.

The three boys got up and moved down the table to where Remus sat. They sat around him. James was next to Remus and Sirius and Peter were across from them.

"How did you do that?" Sirius asked quietly.

"A potion I nicked from Slughorn's storage room." Remus smirked.

"Nice." James said.

"When you said you had a final prank for dinner time, I thought you meant that you were going to prank us." Sirius said.

Remus laughed. "I could have, but I wanted to prank the Slytherins so it would look like the prank on the Slytherins brought us back together because of the big laugh it would bring."

James grinned. "I think you did a good job there." He looked at all the laughing faces as they watched the Slytherins.

"Now that we are back together, we're not going to let anything break us apart again, are we?" Sirius asked very seriously.

"No!" Sirius's friends chorused.

As happy as Remus was that his friends said that nothing would break them apart, he knew that they would abandon him eventually. He was a werewolf and no one stays friends with a dangerous creature like him. He didn't want his friends to find out, but Remus knew they would at some point. James and Sirius were two of the smartest students in their year, even if they didn't act like it. He wasn't sure when, but they would find out. Remus was going to cherish all the time he had with his friends before they discovered the truth about him.

**A/N: Remus is not gay. Don't even think he is. I hate yaoi and do not write yaoi. I very rarely read yaoi and when I do it's for a laugh. I simply put he is gay in this as a joke. Don't take it seriously.**

**Same with Sirius. That should be self-explicitly. Sirius could never love Snape.**

**Please review!**


	18. Chapter 18: Hogwarts Chaos by Marauders

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

**A/N: Hagrid is introduced in this chapter. I can't figure out the way Hagrid talks, so I'm just going to have him talk normally in my story. Just use your imaginations for the correct way he talks in the book.**

**The Marauders Year 1**

**Chapter 18: Hogwarts Chaos by Marauders**

The four boys who called themselves the Marauders stood in front of their Transfiguration professor, Minerva McGonagall, silently. Peter was looking very nervous; while the other three had their hands clasped behind their backs and were watching their teacher calmly. They had done nothing wrong, so they had no reason to be nervous.

McGonagall watched her students coolly. She noticed that Peter kept shifting his weight from one foot to the other, nervously. Her other three students were their usually calm, cool selves.

"Professor, why have you called us here?" Remus asked bravely after a few minutes of their professor just watching them.

McGonagall smiled at the bravery. Most of her students would watch her nervously until she spoke. These three were never afraid of her, probably why they were Gryffindors. Even with their pranks, she did like Remus, Sirius, and James. They were all smart. She just wished they would just stop with the pranks. Peter still needed lots of improvement and study time. He was just barely passing his classes.

"In the past few weeks, I have noticed you four behaving. You haven't hexed anyone, pulled any pranks, misbehaved in any classes, and you have been on time to all of your classes. I was surprised to see this at first. I guess with all the detentions you have you have learned your lesson. I am very impressed by the sudden change in behavior." McGonagall said.

James and Sirius wanted to smirk so bad here, but knew they couldn't if they didn't want their professor to find out the truth. They would never behave like this, but Remus insisted on them behaving for a while, saying they had too many detentions stocked up. They should behave a little and get rid of the detentions they stocked up. All of them agreed since all the detentions and their workload was getting too much. They never had time for themselves anymore with all their homework and detentions.

"Because your behavior has improved so much recently, I have decided to allow you four out of detention a week early." McGonagall smiled at the boys.

The Marauders broke into grins. After three weeks of detention every night, the boys couldn't be happier about being out of detention. Three straight weeks of detention showed them just how torturous it truly is.

"Thanks Professor," Remus said happily.

McGonagall nodded her head. "Please try to refrain from getting any more detentions."

"Of course, Professor," Remus replied.

When the boys were out of McGonagall's office, Sirius sighed. "I hate detention. I think we should end that detention competition. I don't want any more detentions. I don't think I can handle getting more detentions."

"I agree!" Remus and Peter said almost immediately. They never wanted in the detention competition to begin with.

"That's for sure. Let's try not to get detention anymore." James said.

Sirius pouted. "But what about my pranks?"

James smirked. "We just have to not get caught anymore."

Three smirks were the reply he received.

As soon as they got back to their dorm, Sirius marched over to his trunk which was in the corner where he kicked it to a few weeks ago when they brought the common room couch, chair, and table into the room. Since the couch, chair and table were still in the room, he left it there. He started rummaging through his trunk until he found the detention competition parchment.

After grabbing it he marched back down to the common room with his friends following. They sat in front of the fire, on the floor since the couch and chair were still locked in their dorm (they were actually surprised no one thought of checking their room for them, but even if they tried to check it, they wouldn't be able to find out). Sirius ripped the parchment into tiny pieces and threw it into the fire and leaned back on his hands to watch the parchment burn.

"So, we're going to have to be sneakier with our pranks?" Peter asked.

"Yeah, I don't want another detention." James replied.

"This will probably be more fun anyway. Everyone will know we do the pranks, since we are the pranksters of this school, but they won't have any proof so they won't be able to punish us." Remus said, smiling as he gazed into the fire.

Sirius laughed. "Just think of how the professors will react. They won't be able to punish us and it will torture them."

James looked out the common room window. He saw a small light on the grounds. His eyes lit up mischievously. "Now that we are free of all detentions and it's the weekend, how about a trip to meet Hagrid?"

"No," Remus snapped immediately.

"Why not?" Sirius asked. "You said we could visit him."

Remus crossed his arms. "It's passed curfew. We just got out of trouble. I don't want to get back into trouble."

"That's why we aren't going to get caught." James replied.

"It's our first night free." Remus argued.

James pouted. "But it'll be fun."

"Yeah, sneaking out is always fun." Peter agreed.

Remus glowered at his friends. "We'll have to sneak out of the school to visit him. We aren't doing that. And besides, how do you know he won't turn us in for sneaking out of the school and going to visit him?"

"Come on, Remus, where is your sense of adventure? It'll be fun." James pleaded.

"No," Remus growled.

Sirius crossed his arms. "This new responsible you is boring. Change back to fun Remus."

Remus glared at Sirius. "I'm trying to keep us from getting expelled."

"You didn't care this much when we snuck into Zonko's or Honeydukes." Sirius retorted.

"We didn't have to go outside to get to those places. We snuck into them underground." Remus snarled.

"What about when we were running around Hogsmeade?" James asked.

"That's during the day. There are wizards and witches all around then. It's different than sneaking out at night." Remus replied. He subconsciously touched his werewolf bite.

Sirius raised a brow. "What would you know about sneaking out? You've never done it in your life, being the goody-two shoes that you are."

Remus glared at Sirius. Sirius could never understand. He wasn't the one who snuck out at night, when specifically told by his parents to stay inside, and got bitten by a werewolf.

"You're just trying to make up excuses because you're too much of a scaredy cat to sneak out." Sirius said, glaring at Remus.

Remus couldn't handle listening to Sirius mock him anymore. Sirius had no idea why Remus didn't want to sneak out. The last time he did, it ruined his life and his parents' lives. They lost all their friends because they had to move after he got bit. With one last glare at Sirius, Remus stood up and stomped up to their dorm.

James frowned. "Did you have to do that? He obviously has a reason that he doesn't want to sneak out. I'm guessing that he may have snuck out before and something bad may have happened to him."

"Then why didn't he just say that?" Sirius asked, raising a brow.

"Did you ever consider that he doesn't want to talk about? It's a moment in his life that he wants to forget." James replied.

Sirius frowned. "Should I apologize?"

James shrugged. "I would, but it's your choice to decide whether or not to apologize."

Sirius nodded his head and stood up. He walked up the steps to their dorm. He pushed the door open and found Remus lying on the couch, staring at the ceiling with one of his arms hanging over the edge of the couch, swinging back and forth. Quietly, Sirius walked over to the chair and sat down on it.

"Remus, can we talk?" Sirius asked.

Remus turned his head to look at him. "What is it, Sirius?"

Sirius sighed. He put his elbow on his knee and rested his cheek in his upturned hand. "Remus, I just wanted to say that…..I'm s-sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I wasn't really thinking when I said those things. You must have a reason as to why you don't want to sneak out. I should have known that since you have been very mischievous these past few months. With all the rules we've broken together, I know that you aren't a goody-two shoes."

Smiling slightly, Remus nodded his head. "It's alright, Sirius. It wasn't really you who I was mad at. Something happened a few years ago after I snuck outside at night. I don't like sneaking out after dark anymore because of that."

"What happened when you snuck out?" Sirius asked curiously.

Pain flashed through Remus's eyes. "Please don't ask. I can't tell you and it's not a moment I want to relive."

Sirius flinched back. "Sorry, I knew I shouldn't have asked. At least you're not giving me a lie."

Remus winced. He hated having to lie to his friends. They already had suspicions that he was lying to them and Remus hated that. Remus knew he had to get better at lying if he was going to survive school. That or he would have to start sneaking away which would probably make his friends more suspicious of him. Why did everything have to be so difficult for him?

Sirius watched his friend confused and a little nervously. He saw Remus just staring at nothing with sad eyes. It was almost like Remus forgot that he was here. He looked so lost in his own thoughts. He hoped he didn't remind Remus of anything horrible from his past.

To break the uncomfortable silence that engulfed the room after the last thing that Sirius said, Sirius cleared his throat. "So, how about we go back to the common room? We can go visit Hagrid tomorrow since it's a Saturday. We can just focus on planning a prank now. You know that we have to perfect a prank for April Fool's Day so we should get started on it now. We only have three weeks left until that day."

Remus rolled his eyes.

Down in the common room, Sirius and Remus sat down next to their friends in front of the fire place.

"Well, according to Sirius, we are supposed to be planning a prank for April Fool's Day." Remus told the other two.

"But we have three weeks until April first." Peter said.

"We have to make this a perfect prank. There can't be any proof that we are the ones to pull it. We aren't trying to get detentions anymore. This has to be so perfect that everyone will know it was us, but they won't be able to prove that it us. This is going to take a lot of planning." Sirius explained.

The boys fell silent as they started to think of their next prank. This prank had to top all their other pranks. Each prank had to be better than their last one. They all had to be so good that no one would be able to top them.

After twenty minutes of silence, Sirius fell onto his back and groaned. "I can't think of anything. This prank is supposed to target the whole school, right?"

James looked up from staring into the fire. "Yeah. I don't have any idea of what to do either."

Peter nodded his head in agreement.

The fourth Marauder was the only one to keep silent. He kept staring into the fire with a thoughtful look on his face. He was smirking and had a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

Sirius raised his head off the ground to look at Remus when he didn't say anything. "Do you have an idea?" The young heir asked when he saw the smirk and mischievous twinkle.

Remus waved a hand at Sirius to shush him. He was working on an idea and needed silence to get the idea finished.

After a few more minutes of silence, where James, Sirius, and Peter were waiting in anticipation, Remus looked at his friends. "You guys, I think I have a plan."

"Well, don't hold out on us. Tell us." James urged his friend.

The next day after breakfast, the marauders were seen walking to the ground keeper's hut. No one bothered them. Most of the Gryffindors were still mad at them for losing all those house points. They all had to work extra hard to get the points back now.

All of the points that the four Marauders lost was something the four first year boys didn't like. They decided to start earning the points back. They wanted to win the House Cup. To the boys, if any house but Slytherin won the House Cup, it was a victory to them.

Remus knocked on the hut door and stepped back.

The door opened a few seconds later. Hagrid smiled at the boys. "Hello lads, what can I do for you?"

James grinned. "I'm James Potter. These are my friends Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew." James pointed to each of his friends as he said their name. Sirius grinned and waved at him. Remus smiled politely and Peter looked at Hagrid nervously. "We wanted to come meet you."

Hagrid smiled. "I know you four. You're the little troublemakers in first year that I've heard so much about from the professors. I've never seen anyone get as many detentions as you four in one year."

The boys laughed.

"We hope to never go to detention again." James laughed.

Hagrid stepped back. "Why don't you come in and have some tea?"

After getting the boys some tea, Hagrid sat at the table. "I'm surprised you four haven't been up to Dumbledore's office yet."

James and Sirius stared at each other. "Sirius, we have to make it to Dumbledore's office before the end of the school year. What kind of troublemakers would we be if we don't get sent to Headmaster's office in our first year?"

"Not very good ones." Sirius nodded his head in agreement.

Remus rolled his eyes. "I thought we agreed that we weren't going to allow ourselves to get into any more trouble."

"Well, yeah, but we have to go to the Headmaster's office at least once time each school year. I want to know where it is." Sirius eyes gleamed with excitement and mischief.

"It's behind a stone gargoyle." Remus said without thinking.

James and Sirius stared at their friend shocked.

"You've been to his office without us?" James looked at his friend appalled.

Remus just realized his mistake. He just inadvertently told his friends he's been to Dumbledore's office. How was he supposed to get out of this without revealing his secret? He was a goner! Remus let his head slip and slam onto the table.

"Why were you sent to his office?" Sirius demanded. He crossed his arms and looked at Remus with narrowed, but curious, eyes. "And why weren't we with you?"

The young werewolf lifted his head off the table and looked at his friends warily. He cleared his throat and looked away nervously. "Well," Remus pulled at the collar of his shirt to try to loosen it. "I was having family problems. You know that my mother is sick. It was the first day of classes, remember? I left you guys in the Great Hall. That was to talk to Professor Dumbledore about my mother."

The boys looked at each other anxiously. They knew Remus didn't want to talk about this. Talking about family was always a sensitive topic for him.

"Do you think you could get us into his office?" Peter asked to change the conversation. He really had no desire to go to the Headmaster's office.

James and Sirius glared at Peter. You don't say something like that in front of an adult.

Hagrid chuckled. "He can try, but the password has changed since he's been up to Dumbledore's office."

"Damn, guess we'll have to do this another way." James said. A thoughtful looked appeared on his face. "And I just might know how to do that. Thanks for the tea, Hagrid, but we have plans to make. We'll come visit another time."

James pulled Sirius and Remus out of their chairs, making Remus knocked the cups of tea off the table and break them. Remus started apologizing to Hagrid over and over again as James pushed him and Sirius out the door. Then James went back and grabbed Peter and pushed him out the door. Peter stumbled when he was pushed and fell onto Remus and Sirius.

Hagrid laughed as he watched the three boys be pushed back up to the castle by James. "Those boys sure make life interesting around here."

"James, where are we going?" Remus asked as he was dragged away from Sirius and Peter. As soon as the boys got inside, James dragged Sirius to a corner of the Entrance Hall and spoke quietly to him. When they came back to Remus and Peter, there was excitement in his eyes as he grabbed Peter's arm saying they had work to do and James grabbed Remus's arm.

"Don't ask questions." James said as he dragged Remus up the stairs. "We are on a mission to cause as much mayhem as possible today to be sent to Dumbledore's office." The bespectacled boy stopped talking as he saw McGonagall walking in the opposite direction of them. She gave them a suspicious look, but didn't stop to talk. When she was gone, James continued. "We thought it best to split us up. I took you and Sirius took Peter because I knew you wouldn't cause any mayhem and Sirius took Pete so he could help him."

Remus stopped walking and pulled his arm out of James's grip. "No, not going to happen. I'm not helping you. We just got out of trouble yesterday. I'm not going back to detention just because you want to be sent to Dumbledore's office, which doesn't make any sense to me, by the way."

James turned around. "Remus, you are a Marauder! We may get detention, but we are doing this so we can go to the Headmaster's office. We are troublemakers! It's our job to make as much chaos as possible. That is our goal while here at Hogwarts!"

"Just announce you're one of the Marauders in the Great Hall then. McGonagall will be happy enough to take you to the Headmaster's office then." Remus snapped.

"That's boring. We must do this in a fun way. Telling the school we are the Marauders is a great idea thought. Hmm." James turned back around and starting walking again, knowing that Remus was going to follow him.

Groaning, Remus chased after his friend. "You can't tell them we are the Marauders. We'll be in so much trouble if you do that."

James grinned. "That's why we are going to do it the last day of the school year."

Remus snorted. "Oh, wonderful idea. We can start our second year off with three months of detention. An absolutely brilliant idea!"

Remus stopped walking as a thought came to him. Was he even going to come back for his second year? He only promised his dad and Professor Dumbledore that he would attend one year of Hogwarts. Remus wasn't sure if he wanted to come back to continue his schooling with his father gone. His friends were already suspicious of him lying to them about where he went each month. It might just be best to not come back, no matter how much fun he was having at Hogwarts with his friends.

The young werewolf was snapped back to his senses when he felt someone shaking him. Remus looked at his shoulders to see a hand on each of them. He followed the arms to see James looking at him with a very concerned expression.

"What's wrong? Are you okay? You were just standing there for ten minutes with a blank expression on your face." James removed his hands from his friend's shoulders, but continued to stare at Remus, frowning.

"I'm fine. I was just thinking." Remus replied.

James nodded his head. "Come on, let's go. We still have to cause mayhem. Sirius and Peter are going to start their part in the plan soon."

"What plan?" Remus snorted. "You made it up in five minutes. There was no time to plan."

James grinned. "You're right. We're just winging it."

"You're unbelievable." Remus muttered. "What are Peter and Sirius doing?"

"What did I tell you? No questions. And they went to find Peeves." James replied.

Remus opened his mouth to ask why, but closed it at the glare from James.

"They are going to ask Peeves to help us cause a lot of mayhem today. It's all part of the plan." James explained, nodding his head.

"There is no plan!" Remus shouted, waving his hands in the air.

James chuckled. "Calm down, Remy. We are making it up as we go along. I just informed Sirius to find Peeves and to ask him for help."

"What makes you think that Peeves will help us?" Remus scoffed.

"He likes Sirius and me." James replied.

Remus rolled his eyes.

Two hours later found the four Marauders in Dumbledore's office. Remus had his arms crossed, was leaning back in his chair, and glaring at his friends for dragging him into this. Peter was fidgeting in his chair. James and Sirius were walking around the office and looking around at everything in there. McGonagall dragged them into Dumbledore's office ten minutes ago and left to find the Headmaster.

Remus sighed. "I can't believe you idiots dragged me into this."

James looked up from examining some of Dumbledore's trinkets and smirked. "Oh, come on, Remus, I know you had fun. Admit it!"

Remus didn't reply. He chose to look at the wall instead. This action made James grin. "Knew it."

The door to the office opened a few minutes later. Dumbledore walked in, his eyes twinkling, and sat behind his desk. McGonagall followed him and stood at the Headmaster's shoulder. While Dumbledore was smiling in amusement, McGonagall was frowning and looking at the boys sternly. Dumbledore motioned for Sirius and James to sit down.

"So, boys, Professor McGonagall has just informed me that you four have caused a lot of chaos today." Dumbledore started. He folded his hands and rested his elbows on the table with his folded hands in the air. "She has not informed me of what you have done. I was simply informed that four first year boys were in my office for causing a lot of chaos in the castle. Does someone care to explain?"

James and Sirius grinned.

"Well, you see, sir," James started and left off for Sirius to continue.

"We felt that the castle was too quiet today…."

"So, we felt that chaos was needed…..."

"Just some stuff for fun….."

"Nothing dangerous. We don't want to hurt anyone."

"It was all in good fun, but…."

"Minnie didn't appreciate it."

"Professor McGonagall." Dumbledore corrected.

"Right." James was smirking now.

McGonagall's nostrils flared. "I just let you four off the hook last night. It hasn't even been a full day and you already causing trouble again!"

Sirius grimaced and whispered to James. "It's like listening to Remus all over again!"

James nodded his head in agreement.

"Sir, these four joined with Peeves to cause a lot of mayhem today. They turned all the suits of armors in the school gold and red, turned all the stairs into slides, turned the hair of any Slytherin they met a different color, gave Peeves balloons filled with maple syrup, whip cream, melted chocolate, or something else to throw at any students he met, made rain clouds appear above students' head, and flooded all the bathrooms. They also put graffiti on the walls. They drew pictures of a lion, dragons, offending pictures of teachers and some students on the wall and wrote offended things and they did many other things." McGonagall told the Headmaster before looking at the Gryffindors.

Peter flinched back in his seat at the look that McGonagall sent at them. James and Sirius met her glare bravely, while Remus barely gave her a glance.

"I don't know what I was thinking when I let you four off the hook." McGonagall told them.

Remus was no longer listening at this point. His professor had just given him an idea. He didn't like this. Sirius and James were the ones who came up with the plans in their group, not him! Besides that, he didn't need to get in any more trouble. He wanted no more fun ideas!

A tugging at his sleeve brought Remus out of his thoughts. He blinked in confusion a few times when he saw James looking at him concerned.

"That's the second time today that you completely spaced out. Are you sure you are okay?" James asked.

"Just peachy," Remus mumbled.

James didn't look convinced, but let the matter drop for now as he dragged Remus out of Dumbledore's office. He gave Dumbledore and McGonagall a wave before closing the door and going down the stairs, dragging Remus all the way. They met Sirius and Peter in the corridor outside of Dumbledore's office.

"What is our punishment?" Remus asked.

"Fifty points from each of us, we have to work really hard to get those points back, double detention which will probably be cleaning the graffiti, and they are going to write letters to our parents." James grimaced at the last one. "I'm in so much trouble."

"Me too." The other three chorused.

The next day was utter chaos at breakfast. All of the Marauders were eating very little and kept watching for the owl post. They all knew they were going to get a letter from their parents. The rest of Gryffindors, well most of them, were glaring at or ignoring the Marauders. They were upset over all the points they lost.

By the time the owl post arrived, all the Marauders were extremely nervous. They were all able to look calm and unconcerned on the outside, except Peter, but were really nervous on the inside. Peter was fidgeting in his seat and his hand was shaking on the table.

Four owls landed in front of the Marauders, each carrying a red envelope. The boys glanced at each other.

"Let's open them together." James reached for his envelope.

Each boy opened their Howler at the same time.

"SIRIUS ORION BLACK, I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU WOULD DO SOMETHING…..."

"REMUS JOHN LUPIN, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"

"PETER PAUL PETTIGREW, I HAVE NEVER BEEN MORE DISAPPOINTED IN YOU…"

"JAMES CHRYSANTHOS POTTER I KNOW WE RAISED YOU BETTER THAN THIS!"

All four boys had their ears plugged. One Howler was loud enough, but four going off at the same time was insane. No one could hear themselves think with this noise.

"WHERE ARE ALL THE MANNERS I TAUGHT YOU? DID YOU LOSE THOSE WHEN YOU JOINED THOSE MUDBLOODS AND BLOOD TRAITORS IN THAT WRETCHED HOUSE OF YOURS?"

"I KNOW I TAUGHT YOU TO BE MORE RESPONSIBLE THAN THIS! FIRST YOU ALMOST GET YOURSELF KILLED AT THAT SCHOOL, NOW THIS! JUST ONCE MORE REMUS JOHN! IF I GET ANOTHER LETTER, I'M PULLING YOU OUT OF THAT SCHOOL!"

"WHEN I SENT YOU TO HOGWARTS IT WAS TO LEARN MAGIC, NOT MAKE THINGS DIFFICULT FOR YOUR PROFESSORS!"

"HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU? NO MORE PRANKS! I DON'T WANT ANOTHER LETTER FROM HOGWARTS, YOU HEAR ME YOUNG MAN! YOU WILL BE GROUNDED ALL SUMMER IF YOU DON'T GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER!"

"UNLESS YOU WANT PULLED OUT OF HOGWARTS AND SENT TO DURMSTRANG PULL YOUR ACT TOGHETER AND STOP DISGRACING THE BLACK FAMILY NAME MORE THAN YOU ALREADY HAVE!"

The Howlers burst into flames at different times. Remus was very pale. He looked at his friends who were staring at the ashes of their Howlers.

"Well, that could have been worse." Remus said weakly.

"Durmstrang? She wouldn't dare." Sirius hissed angrily. "That's a school that dark wizards go to. They learn dark magic there, not how to defend themselves from it."

James looked up from his ashes with fire in his eyes. "Our parents want us to change. They want us to be sticks in the mud, perfect little angels who never do anything wrong. We can't do that. We can't let them win. We can't just roll over and obey them like dogs. We are kids! We are the Marauders! It's our job to have fun!"

Sirius smirked. "I'll never listen to my mother in life or death." He turned to Remus. "Will your mother really pull you out of school if you get into more trouble?"

"Maybe, I'm not sure." Remus replied.

"Don't worry, Remmy. We won't be getting caught again. You won't be taken out of school." James replied.

Remus grinned. "Is your middle name really Chrysanthos?"

"Yeah, why?" James asked confused. He couldn't see what would be making Remus grin madly like that.

Remus snickered into his hand.

"What?" James asked angrily. "There is nothing wrong with it. It's a cool name. It's so unique!"

"Yeah, come on, Remus. Let us in on the joke!" Sirius said excitedly.

Remus laughed out loud and grabbed his stomach.

"WHAT?" James yelled, grabbing Remus's robes and shaking him.

After calming his laughter, Remus smirked at James. "Chrysanthos is Greek for golden flower."

Sirius and Peter burst out laughing, while James stared at Remus shocked. He dropped Remus on the ground where he started rolling around laughing with tears running down his face. Sirius dropped next to him a few seconds later.

"His name…..goes so well with…hehe hehe….E-Evans….T-they b-both have…..f-flower names now….J-James should be so h-happy to be a f-flower like…the l-love of…his l-life." Sirius had struggle saying this as he was laughing so much. Remus pounded his fists into the ground from his laughter.

James's jaw dropped and his eyes widened. "Wh-what?" He stuttered. "I don't like Evans!"

None of the boys heard him. They were laughing too loudly.

"For their wedding…they should…have f-flowers all a-around. All types of f-flowers…and fl-flower rings." Remus laughed.

"I DON'T LOVE EVANS!" James yelled, eye twitching.

The students who were already watching the Marauders because of the three hysterical laughing boys, laughed at James.

James blushed, sent a glare at his friends, and marched out of the Great Hall with his face all red. He passed a red Lily Evans, whether she was red from anger or embarrassment, James didn't know.

A few days later, Remus woke up to an alarm blazing in his ear from his nightstand. Growling, Remus picked the clock up and chucked it against the wall, smashing it into pieces. With the annoying sound gone, Remus snuggled back into his blankets. More than anything, Remus didn't want to get up today. He wanted to spend the whole day in bed.

James stared at Remus in a daze. He wasn't expecting to see Remus smash his alarm clock against a wall the first thing in the morning.

The bathroom door opened and Sirius came out dressed, his hair done, and looking ready for the day. "What broke? I heard something slam into the wall."

"Remus threw his clock at the wall." James rubbed his eyes, trying to wake up.

Sirius raised a brow. He could expect that from him, Peter, or James, but not Remus. Remus always wanted to get to class. "That's not like him. Have you noticed that he's been acting differently the past few days?"

"So I'm not the only one who's seen it." James replied looking at Sirius worried. "I wonder what's wrong."

Shrugging, Sirius moved back towards the beds. "Remus, wake up! Wake up!

"Go away, Black! I'm sleeping." Remus's drowsy voice said.

"Remus, breakfast is over in thirty minutes and we have class." Sirius replied, shaking Remus's shoulder.

Remus lifted his head out of the blankets to glare at Sirius. "Go away; I'm not getting out of this bed for anything today."

Sirius blinked and looked at James, who just came out of the bathroom ready for the day. "He says he's going to stay in bed all day."

James sighed. He pulled Remus's blanket away from the boy and threw it onto the floor. Remus sent a glare at him.

James crossed his arms and sent a glare right back on back. "Get up. We have school today."

"You can't tell me what to do." Remus retorted before burying his face into his pillow.

The two black haired boys looked at each other and sighed. Remus was being more difficult in getting up in the morning than he usually was.

"Remus, is there some important reason for why you don't want to get up today?" James asked.

There was no reply from Remus, but from the way his body stiffened, James knew the answer was yes.

James narrowed his eyes. "Well, since there is no reason, get up now!"

"I don't want to!" Remus whined.

And now Remus was whining! This made James pause. Remus never whined. He was too mature to do so. Whining is something James would expect from Sirius and Peter, not Remus!

James stared at Remus. He was trying to figure out a way to get him out of bed. There was never this much trouble with getting him up before.

"Offer him some chocolate." A tired voice said.

James looked around to see Peter sitting in his bed, rubbing his eyes.

After twenty minutes of talking and seven chocolate frogs, all four of the Marauders were out of Gryffindor Tower and were running to class. James, Sirius, and Peter were glaring at Remus as they ran. He made them all miss breakfast and they were starving.

"What do you hate about today? James hissed at Remus as they sat down in class. His stomach was grumbling in hunger and James didn't like it.

Remus chose not to reply. This just made his friends want to know what was going on even more. All day they asked him the same question and all day Remus chose to ignore the question. Since he wouldn't answer that question, James, Sirius, and Peter resorted to taking guesses about what was wrong with the day. That is how Remus found himself trapped in his dorm with his three friends right now.

"Did someone you love die on this day?"

"Are you just feeling lazy today?"

"Are you mad at someone?"

"Do you have to go home for another family emergency?"

"Is your mom sick again?"

"Did your dog die?"

"Is today some holiday where you stay in bed all day?"

"Are you sick?"

"Is today your birthday?"

"Peter, are you daft? If it was his birthday, he would have told us and he wouldn't want to stay in bed all day on his birthday." Sirius said.

"Don't call me daft." Peter snapped. "And I was just asking. I don't know when his birthday is."

"It's….." Sirius stopped and blinked. "I don't know when it is either."

Peter smiled smugly.

"Remus," James turned away from Sirius and Peter to look at Remus, who was sitting on his bed with his homework laid out in front of him. "When is your birthday? None of us seem to know when it is which is weird since we all know when everyone else's is. Sirius's is November nineteenth, Peter's is October thirtieth and mine is March twenty-seventh. All of you remember that. My birthday is only seventeen days away. So, when is yours?"

Remus mumbled something behind the book he was reading.

"Sorry, what was that?" James asked.

Remus mumbled something again.

"Remus, I can't hear you when you mumble. Speak louder." James commanded.

"March tenth." Remus replied louder.

James blinked and looked at Remus shocked. "Why didn't you tell us today is your birthday?"

Remus rubbed his eyes tiredly. He sighed, closed his book, and laid down. His eyes stared at the ceiling, upset and pain in them. "My birthday is horrible. I never celebrate it any more…Every year on my birthday, I get seriously hurt. I hate my birthday."

"Remus, I think you are…"

"No, James, it's true. Ever since I was four, I get hurt on this day." Remus said. He sat up and looked at his friends. "When I was four, I fell out of a tree, landed on my head, and got a concussion. At five, I got a dog that bit my arm and tore it up. Good thing for magic. At six, I broke my hand by slamming it into a door. Seven: some muggle guy shot me with a gun. A gun is a muggle instrument used for killing. Eight: I fell off my broom and broke my leg, cut my chin, and broke two of my fingers. Nine: a bludger smashed into my head and knocked me out for two weeks when my dad asked me to do the commentary for the Quidditch game he and his friends were playing. At ten: I dropped a knife into my foot, don't ask how I did that. And last year, my dad accidentally hit me with a spell that blasted me through a wall."

Remus was met with blank stares from his friends when he finished.

After a few minutes, James snapped out of his trance. "Remus, you have to have the worst luck ever. But don't worry; we're going to fix that."

"How?" Remus asked skeptically.

"We're going to celebrate your birthday every year and you won't get hurt once when it's your birthday now that we are your friends." James was grinning at his friend now. Sirius and Peter were both grinning and nodded their heads in agreement.

Remus, on the other hand, was frowning. He didn't want to celebrate his birthday. He was going to get hurt again! His friends were going to be the end of him! Taking a few calming breathes, Remus shook his head. "No, we are not. I like living and not being hurt. We are never celebrating my birthday. We can celebrate yours, but leave mine alone. This day will never be mentioned as my birthday. Just forget about my birthday. I won't hold it against you guys."

Sirius shook his head. "Remus, what kind of Gryffindor are you? Afraid of your own birthday! Honestly! We shall break you of this fear of your birthday or die trying!"

"You will die, or at least I will if we celebrate my birthday! Not even my parents or cousins or uncle celebrate it after all the misfortunes I've had!" Remus said.

James sighed. "Honestly Remus, this is just sad!" He looked at his watch. "We still have seven hours before Remus's birthday is over. Let's start now on fixing this problem with Remus and his birthday!"

Remus looked at each of his friends' faces to see the excitement and amusement there. Taking a calming breath, Remus jumped off the beds and slowly inched towards the door while his friends were distracted with planning what they were going to do to celebrate his birthday tonight. He just reached the door when Sirius caught him moving.

"Where do you think you are going, Remus?" Sirius asked with his hands planted on his hips.

"Somewhere where you won't find me and get me killed!" Remus screamed fearfully before running out the door and down the dorm steps.

Sirius grinned. "I'll go catch Remus and keep him distracted. You have two hours before I get back with him."

Sirius cornered Remus in the Great Hall half an hour later. He had the boy pinned to the ground. Remus growled and was trying to get Sirius off of him.

"That was fun!" Sirius grinned. "We should have races more often."

"Sirius, I have an idea." Remus said, smiling innocently.

"What?" Sirius asked interested.

"GET OFF ME!" Remus yelled.

Sirius fell over shocked, allowing Remus to get up and run out of the Great Hall. Sirius cursed and ran after him. After running for twenty minutes through five corridors and up and down six staircases, Sirius caught up to and tackled Remus.

Remus groaned under Sirius's weight. "Stop doing that, Sirius."

"Stop running." Sirius huffed out.

"I will if you promise not to celebrate my birthday." Remus said.

"Not happening." Sirius replied.

"I hate you." Remus snarled.

"You can say that as many times as you want, but I know it's not true." Sirius retorted.

Remus struggled under Sirius's weight.

"Relax Remus, I just want to go outside." Sirius said.

Remus glared at him.

"Hey, it's either agree to go outside with me or I can sit on you all night." Sirius said.

"Fine." Remus huffed.

Grinning, Sirius stood up and held a hand out to Remus. Suspiciously, Remus took the hand offered to him. As soon as their hands touched, Remus knew he shouldn't have taken it. Sirius closed his hand around Remus's smaller hand and yanked him to his feet and proceeded to drag the smaller boy outside.

"Ah, it's such a nice night!" Sirius said when they were outside.

Remus rolled his eyes. "Why did you drag me out here?"

"Cause." Sirius replied.

"You have such a great vocabulary." Remus growled.

Sirius shook his head exasperatedly. "Remus, it is your birthday. Don't be like that!"

Remus threw his hands into the air. "I can't believe we are back to that!"

"I just can't believe all the accidents you had. It's kind of funny. I didn't think you were that clumsy. How do you drop a knife into your foot?" Sirius was laughing.

"Yeah, that's right! Laugh at my pain!" Remus pouted.

"Thanks for giving me permission." Sirius replied.

Remus sat down and crossed his arms. "Jerk."

Sirius fell to the ground next to Remus. "Sorry Remmy, but it is kind of surprising at all the injuries you've gotten. I guess it makes sense though."

"What does?" Remus asked, raising a brow.

"Well, you fell onto your head as a little kid. It explains all that is wrong with you." Sirius replied, grinning like a maniac.

"There's nothing wrong with me!" Remus said indignantly.

Sirius patted Remus's arm sympathetically. "Keep telling yourself that."

Remus tackled Sirius and started a wrestling match between them.

Both boys collapsed onto their backs a little while later, breathing heavily.

"That was fun." Sirius said.

"You think everything is fun." Remus replied. He looked at the sky to see the sun beginning to set. "Let's go inside. It'll be dark soon."

"Who cares about being out after dark?" Sirius asked. At a look from Remus, Sirius sighed. "Fine, let's go back to the common room. I'm sure you want to work on your homework, like the little nerd you are."

Sirius jumped to his feet and ran away after he said that. Remus stared at his retreating back in a stupor for a few seconds before chasing his friend.

"GET BACK HERE, BLACK!" Remus yelled, throwing his fist into the air angrily.

Sirius laughed and picked up his speed. He saw the Fat Lady Portrait ahead and grinned. "Moon Star, Moon Star, Moon Star, Moon star." He yelled.

The Fat Lady sighed. "Alright, alright, I heard you the first time." She swung opened to allow Sirius passage.

Remus growled and slid to a halt in front of the Fat Lady. "Moon Star."

The portrait swung forward to admit Remus. Remus ran into the common room and looked around. Sirius wasn't there, so that meant that he was in their dorm.

Remus pushed the dorm door opened and stared, gaping at what he saw. There was a big chocolate cake with chocolate icing on the table with goblets of chocolate milk next to it. On his bed was a pile of presents. His friends stood smirking at him.

"I…I….told you….not to." Remus said weakly, falling to his knees, defeated.

"Yeah, but we are your friends and wanted to celebrate." James replied. He pulled Remus into the room and looked out in the door to make sure nobody was around. He closed the door when the coast was clear and turned around, smiling. "Remus, I thought you said your mom, cousins, and uncle don't celebrate your birthday."

"They don't." Remus said confused.

James raised a brow. "Well, that's weird. Several different owls arrived here, each carrying a gift for you from your family. Three of the owls were carrying the largest gift in your pile."

Remus looked at his gifts. "I see. Where did the other three come from?"

"I made a quick trip to Hogsmeade while Peter was in the kitchen telling the house elves that we wanted a cake. Sirius and Peter told me what they wanted to get you before I left." James explained.

"How did you get the cake here without anyone seeing it?" Remus asked.

"Invisibility cloak, of course." James replied, smiling.

"Now that there aren't any more questions, let's eat this cake!" Sirius said.

After eating the cake, which was delicious, the boys watched Remus open gifts. Peter got him a packet of chocolate frogs, James got him a book about charms that they don't learn in school that could be helpful in pranks, and Sirius got him dung bombs and Frog Spawn Soap (which just came out). His mother sent him homemade cookies and his cousin, Selene, gave him a minor healing potion for cuts and scrapes with a note saying he should be more careful. His uncle Kaus gave Remus a note, saying he had a special gift to give Remus when he came home for summer. The last gift, which was the biggest, was from his other cousin, Jason. There was a note saying that Remus had better start practicing and that he had something to tell Remus when he came home for summer.

"Practice what?" James asked.

"Don't know." Remus replied as he opened the gift. He sighed when he saw it. "I know now."

James and Sirius looked at the gift and grinned. "I love your cousin."

"I can't believe he got you a Quidditch set. We have to break this out with the Gryffindor team at their next practice." Sirius was grinning like a maniac. "And Remus has to play because they are his."  
Remus groaned.

"Come on, let's go ask them when their next practice is." James said enthusiastically.

James and Sirius ran out of the dorm and down the stairs with Remus running after them and telling them to not ask.

"Hey Shawn!" James yelled when they entered the common room.

Remus slammed into Sirius's back when he stopped suddenly.

Sirius grinned at Remus. "Pay more attention, Remus."

Remus rubbed his head. "Don't stop so suddenly next time."

"What?" Shawn asked.

"When is your next Quidditch practice?" James asked.

"Why?" Angel asked.

James grinned. "Well, Remus's cousin, his name is Jason, right Remus?"

"Jason is your cousin!" Shawn asked, grinning. "I remember him. He just graduated last year. He was one of the best beaters on our team. He was an awesome captain!"

"Well, he sent Remus a set of new Quidditch balls and Quidditch armor for his birthday today." James said.

"I didn't know it was your birthday. Happy birthday, Remus!" Angel smiled at the young boy.

"Thanks." Remus replied.

"Anyway, we want to break them out so we thought we'd play a game with you guys after your next practice." Sirius said.

Shawn grinned. "Well, you're in luck. Our next practice is tomorrow."

Sirius grinned. "Remus, you had nothing to worry about today. You didn't get a single injury."

Remus rolled his eyes. "There are still three more hours of my birthday left. I can still get hurt."

Just as Remus said this, a second year ran pass Remus as he was running away from his friend. The second year knocked into Remus, making the young werewolf fall backwards. His hand went flying backwards and into the fireplace.

Remus screamed in pain and pulled his hand out of the fire. He gave Sirius a see-what-happens-when-I-celebrate-my-birthday look.

Sirius and James just stared at Remus. "You have the worse luck ever. I really didn't want to believe it, Remus, but I think you are actually cursed to get hurt on every single birthday of yours."

"That's…what….I've…..been…trying…to…..tell…you." Remus said through the pain in his hand. He was holding his burned hand in his unburned hand to his chest.

"Angel, I know it's pass curfew, but can we take him to the Hospital Wing?" James asked.

Angel nodded her head. She wasn't going to stop someone who was hurt from going to the Hospital Wing even if it was after curfew.

"Worst luck ever." Sirius mumbled as he and James led Remus to the Hospital Wing.

**A/N: Please review!**


	19. Chapter 19: Werewolf

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

**The Marauders Year 1**

**Chapter 19: Werewolf**

"Remus, what's wrong? You're all pale and you were completely out of it in class." James said as the Marauders were leaving Charms class and going to lunch. "I had to take over and take notes today. You know how much I hate taking notes! I only do that when you can't be here."

Remus didn't reply. He just kept walking with his head down. He couldn't handle anything today. This day is far worse than his birthday. He would gladly go back to his birthday if it meant that this day could be forgotten.

Today was March seventeenth. To everyone else this is just a normal day with nothing special going on this day. Those people don't realize the pain a young wizard faces on this day and why should they? They don't know or care about the young wizard. This is the day that turned Remus's life into HELL!

On this day seven years ago, Remus was bitten by a werewolf. Now every full moon, Remus would turn into a monster through a painful transformation. Because of that night seven years ago, nothing would ever go right for Remus. He would have no true friends that stuck by him when they knew he was a werewolf. He would never be able to get a good job either. He would never have a good life.

_What is the point?_ Remus thought as he trudged down to the Great Hall. _What is the point of me being here? I can learn all the magic I want, but it won't change anything. I'll never be able to get a good job. My friends will leave me when they learn the truth. Why do I even bother?_

James, Sirius, and Peter watched their friend, very concerned. He wasn't acting like his usual self. Remus was always in a cheerful mood, laughing with them or he was in an irritable mood. But today he wasn't either of those. He was moping around the castle like he has the worst life ever. That wasn't like him. Remus didn't mope. He never got upset, angry a few times yes, but upset? Never! Being upset was one thing Remus wasn't. And if he was upset, then they never saw it. Remus is a master of controlling his emotions most of the time. Very few times his stoic expression broke and those were times when he was fighting with his friends.

The three boys followed their moping friend into the Great Hall. He sat down at their usual seats and let his head fall and slam onto the table. Like usual, the boys sat around their friend, but instead of filling their plates like they normally would, the boys just sat there.

Sirius and James were trying to get Remus to sit up and eat, while Peter watched them, throwing a few words in here and there.

"Come on, Remus, you have to eat. You're really too small for a twelve year old. When I saw James for the first time, I thought he was too scrawny….."

"OI!" James said indignantly.

"…..but then I saw you. You need to fatten up. You're much too small." Sirius said.

"Leave me alone." Remus's voice was laced with self-pity.

Sirius grabbed Remus's should and roughly pulled him up. "What's with the self-pity act?"

Remus wrenched his shoulder free and looked at his empty plate.

"Remus, we are your friends. Please tell us what is wrong." James said.

Remus looked up and gave his friends a weak, shaky smile. "I'm not hungry. I think I'm going to go study. I'll see you guys later."

Before his friends could reply, Remus was up out of his seat and leaving the Great Hall.

"Did he not hear anything I said about him being too small?" Sirius asked annoyed.

"Is that all you care about? He's moping around the school, obviously upset over something, and all you have to say is that he's too small?" James waved his hands in the air.

"I'm just speaking the truth." Sirius huffed.

James rolled his eyes.

As soon as he was out of the Great Hall, Remus ran up the stairs and to the Astronomy Tower. He really hoped that he didn't run into a couple in there. Those couples really need to learn to make out somewhere more private. It was annoying to meet them in there.

Luckily, when Remus got to the Astronomy Tower, he found it empty. He climbed through one of the windows in the tower and climbed onto the roof. He planted his feet firmly on the roof to keep from slipping off the roof and laid down with his hands planted under his head. Remus needed a break from everything. This was going to be a bad day, he could tell. It would be best to avoid his friends for a while until he could get his emotions under control of what this day meant to him.

For the rest of lunch time, Remus laid on the roof of the Astronomy Tower. He let his mind wonder for the next hour….wondering to the night he was bitten. The horrible night when he went against his dad's orders and gone outside.

Remus gasped and shot up, sweat pouring down his face and neck and gasping for breath. His eyes were darting all around. How could he let his mind wander to that night again? It was a night he never wanted to think of again, but his mind refused to forget that night.

Sighing, Remus shook his head to get rid of the bad thoughts and decided to go back inside. He slowly inched towards the roof, where he grabbed the edges and swung off of the roof and through the window. Despite his appearance, Remus was very athletic. It came with being a werewolf. He had great balance, sight, hearing, and strength because he was a werewolf. While those traits were great and helpful, he would rather give them up and not be a werewolf.

Remus shoved his hands in his pockets and left the tower to go find his friends. He hoped that he appeared more cheerful than he was before so they wouldn't ask any more questions. If they ask more questions, Remus felt that he might just explode with how nervous he felt. He can't take all the suspicious questions and looks his friends gave him.

But, luckily for Remus, James, Sirius, and Peter didn't ask him any questions at all the rest of the day. They gave him curious and worried looks, but kept silent. None of them wanted to upset him again, so they agreed at lunch that they wouldn't bother Remus with their questions again.

_Auva came home for work looking very worried and twitchy. He pulled Lena to the side and hugged her tightly. Remus watched them from the couch, confused. It was very rare for his dad to be this nervous about something. Actually, Remus thought, he didn't think he ever saw his dad nervous about anything._

"_Dear, what's wrong?" Lena asked worriedly._

"_I need to talk to you." Auva replied. He glanced at Remus and got more nervous. "Remus, go to your room and stay there. I need to tell your mother something."_

_Remus looked confused, but obeyed his dad like the good little boy he was, well most of the time. He had no idea of what was going on, which was strange for him. Usually he was able to figure out what was wrong by watching and listening to people, which his parents said was amazing (especially for a five year old), but this time he was completely lost at what was going on._

_About two hours after being sent to his room, Remus was beginning to get really bored. There was almost nothing to do to keep his attention. Just as Remus was about to scream into his pillow out of sheer boredom, his door opened and his father came inside._

"_Hi dad!" Remus chirped, happy for the distraction from his boredom._

_Auva was frowning though. He sat on his son's bed and pulled his son onto his lap. He wrapped his arms around Remus and buried his face into his hair. "I love you, Remus. Nothing will ever change that. Don't forget that, Remus."_

"_I love you to, dad." Remus replied confused._

"_Remus, don't go outside tonight. I want you to stay inside, understand?" Auva ordered._

_As soon as her father said that, Remus's brain started forming a plan to sneak out. No matter how good of a boy Remus is, he was still a little kid and little kids rebelled against what their parents said once in a while. It's the way kids are._

_Remus grinned to himself as he snuck downstairs, careful to avoid the squeaky steps. He didn't want his parents to wake up before he even made it outside. At the bottom of the stairs, Remus turned towards the kitchen, deciding to go out the kitchen door._

_The young boy looked up at the bright moon when he made it outside. The moon made Remus's blue eyes wide and glow bright and crystal like. He smiled at the moon. Remus always loved the full moon. It was so pretty in his opinion._

_A loud growling noise snapped Remus back to reality. He looked around trying to find the source of the noise. It sounded like there was a dog nearby, which confused Remus. None of his neighbors had a dog. There was a cat and rabbit that his neighbors had, but there were no dogs._

_Remus's crystal blue eyes landed on a pair of bright gold angry eyes. The body of the eyes was hidden in the shadows of the trees in the yard. Remus took a step back in fear. As he took this step, the pair of eyes got closer to him. The body of the eyes became bathed in the moonlight as it walked out of the shadows._

_As the beast came out of the shadows, Remus saw it what it was. The beast had dark brown fur, a short snout, tuft tail, and it was snarling at Remus, showing all its yellow fangs. Remus could almost see the thing smirking at him. It smelled the fear in the air and was deliberately approaching Remus slowly to make the young boy more scared._

_With each stepped that Remus took to get away from the beast, the beast took another step forward._

_Out of nowhere, the beast made its move. It jumped into the air towards Remus, who yelled and jumped backwards, resulting in him falling over. The beast landed on top him, efficiently pinning him to the ground. Its claws dug into Remus's arms. The maniac gleam in the beast's eyes changed to crazed excitement and sadism as the beast looked at its prey. He opened his mouth wide and plunged its head towards his victim._

_Remus screamed loudly in pain as the beast's teeth broke his skin. He felt his blood pool around him as the beast's bite tightened on his arm. Tears streamed down Remus's face as the beast's claws raked his body. His screams reverberated all around him. The pain! Remus felt like the pain was going to kill him._

"_HELP! SOMEBODY HELP!" Remus screamed through the pain. His mouth tasted like salt water as his tears slid into his mouth as he was screaming. "HELP ME! PLEASE!"_

_The beast finally let go of Remus's arm. Remus stared at the beast through watery eyes. He didn't know what was worse, staring at the beast or looking at what the beast did to his body. From the pain in his body, Remus knew it wasn't a pretty sight._

_Remus risked a glance at his arm, if only to stop staring at the horrible beast on top of him. What he saw made him sick. His torso and arms were covered in scratches from the beast. But the worse wound the beast had given him was the bite wound. It was like the beast tore part of his arm away. His blood was pouring all over the place. His bones were showing and they were cracked all over the place. It was like the beast tore them out of his body with the way they were pointing out. If he didn't die from the pain first, he would most likely die from the blood lost._

_The rest of Remus's thoughts were lost as he saw the beast make another bow to bite him again. Remus screamed in pain as the beast bit into his shoulder. He screamed himself hoarse as the beast's fangs sunk into his skin. The last thing he saw before falling unconscious was a bright flash of red light and the weight on him being released._

_Remus felt himself falling through darkness. The pain from the attack still fresh. It felt like it was intensified in this darkness by at least one hundred times._

"_Help," Remus whimpered._

"_You're just like me now." A vicious, sadistic voice said. "A monster!"_

_Remus screamed in pain. "NO! Help! Somebody help me! Please! I'm not a monster! Help!"_

"_REMUS!"_

"_AHHHH!"_

"_REMUS, WAKE UP!"_

*A few minutes earlier*

It was the middle of the night when James was woken by loud screaming that made him tumble out of his bed. He flailed in his blankets as the screaming continued. After managing to free his head, James looked at Sirius and Peter through bleary eyes to see them also up. Sirius was sitting in his bed and Peter was lying on the ground. James looked at his last roommate and friend, Remus to see his dark figure thrashing around in his sheets, trapped in the blankets, and screaming for help. James picked his wand up off his nightstand and whispered 'Lumos' and put his glasses on to see better.

"What's going on?" Peter asked, rubbing his eyes.

James looked back at Remus and felt his heart go out to him. Tears and sweat were rolling down his skin as he screamed and thrashed all over the place. "We have to wake him."

James moved over to Remus's bed and put his wand on Remus's nightstand. He grabbed Remus's shoulders and started to shake him. "Remus! Remus, come on, wake up!"

Remus whimpered in his sleep.

Sirius appeared on the other side of Remus's bed. "REMUS!"

"REMUS, WAKE UP!" James yelled, shaking Remus harder.

Pounding at the door, distracted James and Sirius from waking their friend. They turned towards the door.

Remus screaming for help again brought the boys back to him. James went back to trying to wake Remus, while Sirius went to answer the door.

Sirius met a group of angry older students when he opened the door a crack. He didn't want them to see what was going on inside, so he only had it opened a crack.

"What the hell are you four doing?" Angel hissed angrily, pushing her messy hair out of her face.

Sirius glanced back into his room to see James still shaking Remus and Peter coming out of the bathroom with a glass of water for Remus when he wakes up. He turned back to the angry students. "Nothing, go back to sleep."

"How can we sleep with all the yelling going on in there?" Shawn asked angrily.

"Who's at the door?" Peter asked.

"Just some very angry students," Sirius said over his shoulder. He looked back at the students. "Look, just go away. We are busy."

"It's two thirty in the morning, what could…" Angel started.

"HELP! Somebody help, please!" Remus whimpered.

"REMUS! WAKE UP, DAMN IT!" James yelled, shaking Remus violently.

Sirius growled. He slammed the door in the shocked Angel's face and went back to Remus. He pushed James out of the way and held Remus down onto the bed with one hand on his chest and slapped Remus's face with his other hand. "WAKE UP!"

Remus yelled and shot up, pushing Sirius aside. His wide eyes darted around the room, looking at everything fearfully.

"Remus, calm down, nothing is going to hurt you here." James said calmly, putting a calming hand on Remus's shoulder.

Wide eyes looked at James. Remus breathing was really heavy and he felt sick to his stomach. It felt like he was going to throw up soon. He grabbed his throat with his hand at this feeling. A glass of water appeared in front of his face. Remus smiled appreciatory at Peter and drank the water, which helped quench the queasy feeling.

"Sorry for waking you up." Remus said weakly, avoiding his friends' eyes. He felt so embarrassed about his nightmare and couldn't meet his friends' eyes.

"Don't worry about it, though I'm not sure the older students are happy." Sirius replied. "But who cares about them?"

Remus looked at his blankets. He ran a hand through his sweaty hair.

"Why don't you go take a shower? It might help you relax after that nightmare." James suggested.

Remus nodded his head. He swung his legs over his bed and stood up weakly on his shaky legs. James saw this and swung an arm around Remus's waists and threw one of Remus's arms over his shoulder and held it down with his other hand. He guided him to the bathroom.

"Remus," James said when they were in the bathroom.

Remus looked up at James from his position on the floor. He was leaning against the wall with his legs pulled up to his chest. He couldn't look James in the eye, so he focused on staring at James's chest. "Yeah?"

"You don't need to feel embarrassed. Everyone has nightmares once in a while. It's normal." James took in Remus's pale complexion, tearstained face, and the beads of sweat that were still covering Remus. "It must have been one hell of a nightmare."

Remus tightened the grip he had around his legs.

"Do you want to talk about it?" James asked, kneeling in front of Remus so he could look the boy in the eyes.

Remus fervently shook his head.

Sighing, James put a hand on Remus's shoulder. "If you ever want to talk, I'll always listen, Remus." James was hoping that Remus would change his mind and talk. Talking always helped after a nightmare, but Remus remained firm on his decision not to talk. "Fine, I won't make you talk. Go take your shower, Remus. I'll get you some fresh pajamas."

James went back into the dorm to find Peter sitting on his bed, fiddling with his shirt. He looked up when James came in. "Sirius took your cloak and went to the kitchen. He wants to ask the house-elves to bring some hot chocolate up here for us. He thinks Remus needs it."

"Remus does feel that chocolate fixes everything." James smiled weakly. He grabbed some pajamas out of Remus's dresser and took them to the bathroom.

When he was finished with his shower, Remus got dressed and stared at the mirror. His golden eyes shined with pain, sadness, and fear. He had blue eyes as a kid, but when he got bitten by that werewolf, his crystal blue eyes turned to a bright gold. Most people liked gold eyes, saying they were so rare and pretty, but Remus hated them. They were one of the signs he had that he was a werewolf. Every time he saw them, he was reminded of the fact that he was a werewolf.

By the time Remus was finished in the bathroom, Sirius was back and four goblets of hot chocolate were sitting on each of the boys' nightstand. Remus stared mindlessly into his hot chocolate.

"Come on, Remus, drink up. It's really good and it will make you feel better." Sirius said.

Remus looked at each of his friends to see them drinking their own hot chocolate and smiling at him. Despite their smiles, each of them was showing worry and concern in their eyes. All that concern was directed at him and that made Remus's heart lift. They cared about him.

At home, whenever he had a nightmare, his parents would come and wake him up. They would comfort him and stay with him until he fell back to sleep, but his friends insisted on giving him hot chocolate and they stayed up with him to. He expected them to just wake him up from a nightmare, make sure he was alright, and go back to sleep. He never expected them to stay up and give him hot chocolate to make him feel better. How different his parents and friends fixed problems.

Remus drank some of his hot chocolate and grinned. It was delicious! The house-elves really knew how to make stuff out of chocolate.

The boys drank their hot chocolate in silence and when they were all finished, Remus crawled back into bed. James turned the lights off, but he, Sirius, and Peter didn't lie down. They sat in silence in the dark, glancing at Remus every once in a while. Once they were sure he was asleep and wouldn't have another nightmare, the boys got under their own blankets and went to sleep.

Remus, James, Sirius, and Peter all had their heads on the table and were snoozing away a few hours later at breakfast. They didn't get much sleep after Remus's nightmare. He woke up again after thirty minutes of sleeping. His friends woke up after him when Remus starting moving around the room. He couldn't get back to sleep after that, so his friends decided to stay up with him the rest of the night.

Nothing could wake these boys from their wonderful dreams. Not the delicious smelling food or the noise of the students as they ate and talked to each other. They were completely out of it. Any student that tried to wake them got hit or hexed by one the boys in their deep sleep. Even when the bell chimed for classes to start, the boys still slept.

~*~Meanwhile~*~

"Where are Messrs. Black, Potter, Lupin, and Pettigrew?" McGonagall looked up from taking attendance to look at her class.

Lily rolled her eyes. "They are sleeping in the Great Hall, ma'am. They stayed up practically all night for some reason."

"It isn't enough that they cause so much chaos around here," McGonagall grumbled as she left her class to get the rest of her students.

"WAKE UP! WAKE UP!" McGonagall yelled and clapped her hands together.

James groaned at the sound and turned his head to look up at his professor. "Do you have to be so loud?"

"Class started ten minutes ago." McGonagall replied.

James sighed and looked at his still sleeping friends. He kicked Sirius, knocking him off the bench. Sirius landed on the floor with an 'oomph.'" He lifted his head off the ground to glare at James, who was grinning down at Sirius with his arms crossed over his chest.

"What the hell, Potter?" Sirius growled.

"Minnie says we're late to class." James nodded towards McGonagall.

McGonagall's nostrils flared. "It's Professor McGonagall, Mr. Potter. Ten points from Gryffindor and another ten from each of you for being late to class."

Sirius and James groaned. As if the Gryffindors weren't mad enough at them.

"Let's wake Remus and Peter." James sighed.

"Do we have to wake Remus? This is probably the best sleep he's had today." Sirius said.

"Sadly, we are being forced by the dictator to attend class." James replied, leaning over the table to push Peter out of his seat to wake him up.

Peter groaned. "Why?"

"I had to wake you up." James replied. He looked at Remus's sleeping figure and sighed. "Remus, wake up. Remus!" James started to shake Remus's shoulders gently to wake him.

"You knock us out of our seats to get us to wake up, but you just shake Remus. Not cool, James, not cool." Sirius pouted.

James rolled his eyes. "Remus just looks….more fragile then you guys. I don't want to hurt him by pushing him onto the floor."

Sirius sighed. That was true. All of them saw how fragile Remus looks. He was always pale and he was very small too, smaller than most people his age. Besides that, he was always very sickly looking. They never said anything about him being sick because they were used to him always looking sick.

"Remus, wake up!" James continued to shake Remus.

"This is ridiculous." Sirius grabbed two plates off the table and banged them together right next to Remus's ears.

Remus's eyes snapped open. He screamed and tried to jump backwards away from the noise, but in his sleep deprived mind he forgot that he was sitting, so when he tried to jump, his feet got stuck on the bench. This ended up with Remus lying mostly on the floor with his legs lying on the bench.

James and Sirius leaned over the table to look at Remus. After staring at Remus blankly for a few minutes Sirius burst out laughing with James joining him a few seconds later.

"You're all jerks." Remus mumbled.

"Come on, Remus, get up. We have to go to class." James was snickering as he said this.

Remus groaned as he stood up. He rubbed his head where he felt a bump forming.

"Are you okay, Remus?" Peter asked, concern lacing his voice.

"At least someone cares about my well-being." Remus sent a glare at the laughing duo.

"We care, Remus!" Sirius replied, feigning hurt.

Remus rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure you do." He said sarcastically.

Sirius grinned. He either didn't notice the sarcasm or decided to ignore it. "Good, now that that is settled, it's time for Transfiguration!"

"Oh, fun, fun, fun," Remus muttered.

McGonagall cleared her throat. "Ms. Evans has informed me that you four stayed up all night. Care to explain to me, why?"

James glanced at Remus and bit his lip. He didn't want to tell McGonagall about Remus having a nightmare without Remus's permission. He didn't want to anger Remus by telling McGonagall. Remus might not want anyone to know. He was really embarrassed when his friends helped him after the nightmare. If anyone else found out he had a nightmare, Remus just might die of embarrassment.

"No, professor, we don't care to tell you why we stayed up all night." Remus snapped.

McGonagall narrowed her eyes at her student. "Don't use that tone with me, Mr. Lupin."

Remus shrugged nonchalantly.

James cleared his throat nervously. "Uh….class time!"

McGonagall sighed and turned on her heels and walked out of the Great Hall with her students following her.

"Will you be okay?" James asked as the boys walked behind their professor on their way to class.

Remus looked at his friend with bloodshot eyes. He had dark rings under his eyes and was really pale. He smiled weakly. "Of course I will. Why wouldn't I be?"

James raised a brow. "Have you looked in a mirror? You look horrible."

"No worries," Remus ginned weakly.

"If you're sure," James replied uncertainly.

Half way through the school day, James knew he was right to worry for his friend. In their afternoon classes, Remus didn't attempt anything. He tried in his morning classes but his progress in them was really poor. Now, Remus just couldn't try any more. Instead of listening to his professor like a good student, Remus put his head on his book (pillow to him right now) and fell asleep immediately.

Knowing that his friend needed the sleep, James didn't wake him up. He grabbed his book and put in propped up in front of Remus to hide his sleeping head.

At the end of class, James pulled the sleeping Remus out of his chair, snapping the boy awoke. He stared tiredly at James, his mind not thinking clearly at the moment. James continued to tug Remus down the corridor with Peter and Sirius following.

"I swear you are so much trouble." James said. "You're lucky you weren't caught."

Remus blinked. "Caught doing what?"

James glanced at him with a raised brow. "Sleeping in class. You do know that's not allowed, right?"

Remus shrugged.

"I wanted to sleep to. I'm so tired." Sirius whined.

Remus looked at his feet. That was his fault. If it wasn't for him having a stupid nightmare then his friends would have been able to sleep. God, why did he have to be so weak to be scared of the same nightmare he has every year on March seventeenth?

Noticing the embarrassed look on Remus's face, Sirius clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Don't be like that. I'm not blaming you. Having a nightmare is part of life. Everyone gets them. I have them too. James has them and so does Peter."

"I didn't know that. I never see you guys having nightmares." Remus replied.

"We can either hide them or you are not here when we have the horrible ones that wake the others." James smiled at Remus.

"Oh." Remus said quietly.

"We agreed to never mention them again." Peter said, thinking that Remus might be offended that they didn't tell him.

Remus smiled. He didn't ask his friends what their nightmares were about and in return, they didn't ask about his. They forgot about each other having nightmares and went on to enjoy the rest of the day but went to bed early to catch up on their sleep. Each fell asleep with a smile on their face, knowing that everything was better than it was the night before.

**A/N: Had you fooled, didn't I? Got you believing the Marauders figured out Remus is a werewolf. I'm a jerk for leading you on, I know.**

**Please review!**


	20. Chapter 20: I DECLARE PRANK WAR!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

**A/N: Gideon and Fabian most likely didn't attend Hogwarts the same time as the Marauders, but I felt like having them in the story.**

**The Marauders Year 1**

**Chapter 20: I DECLARE PRANK WAR!  
**

Grinning, James nodded his head towards his friends. They smiled and stood up. After making sure no one was watching them, the boys snuck out of the common room. In the corridor, James threw the cloak over them and they began their silent trek down to the kitchen where they could finish their plans without being interrupted by students and teachers trying to figure out what they were planning.

For the past few days, the boys have been using all their free time and meal times to work on their April Fools prank. Being known for pulling pranks, the students and teachers watched them worriedly. The boys wore mischievous looks so everyone knew that they should be worried. April Fools was the best day for the pranksters at Hogwarts. As a tradition, Dumbledore made it so no prankster could get in trouble on April first for pulling pranks. The Headmaster loved pranks and thought that they made life at Hogwarts more interesting and fun.

When the Marauders reached the painting of the bowl of fruit, James pulled the cloak off and stuffed it into his pocket. Sirius tickled the pear and pulled the painting opened. He led his friends into the kitchen, but froze at the sight of two identical looking boys with orange hair sitting there, talking quietly with each other. At the sound of the painting opening, the boys looked up at the four boys.

"Well, well, look who it is." One of the boys said.

"The famous first year troublemakers," The other boy grinned.

James pulled the painting shut and looked at the twins. "Who are you two? I don't think we've met you."

"We are the famous troublemakers of Gryffindor." One of the boys said.

"Then how come we haven't seen any chaos from you two since we started?" Sirius raised a brow.

"We're fifth years. We put a hold on our pranks for a while because we have O.W.L.s this year. The professors have been giving us too much homework to plan anything yet." The second boy said.

Remus sat down. "So, what are your names?"

"I'm Gideon,"

"And I'm Fabian."

"Nice to meet you," James replied. "I'm James Potter."

"Sirius Black."

"Remus Lupin."

"Peter Pettigrew."

Gideon grinned. "So, what are you four planning?"

"Whatever do you mean?" Sirius asked innocently.

Fabian snorted. "Please, we've seen you four,"

"Actually, everyone has seen you four." Gideon interrupted.

Fabian nodded his head. "We have all seen you four secretly plotting something. You have the whole school worried."

"And you have been going to the library a lot of late. We've seen you going in there. What have you been researching?" Gideon asked curiously.

Remus rolled his eyes and smirked. "If you really think we're going to tell you, you're sadly mistaken. You have to wait like everyone else."

Gideon and Fabian shared disappointed looks. They were both frowning, but there was an amused look in their eyes. Fabian turned back to Remus with a smirk on his face. "So, we have a question for you four. You see, unlike everyone else in this school we are not idiots."

"We've pulled enough pranks to know that there is always a symbol from the prankster in their prank. You just have to look close enough to see it." Gideon continued.

"The Marauders just appeared this year."

"The Marauders love pranks and always appear at a holiday."

"You four play pranks when there is no holiday around."

"We saw your mark in your pranks and the same mark in the Marauder's pranks."

"So, we deduced that you four must be the Marauders, right?"

James grinned and looked at Sirius, Remus, and Peter. Sirius grinned at James. He wasn't all that surprised that these two were able to figure it out. They seemed smart and if they were as good as prankster as they were making it sound, it would make sense that they would realize who the Marauders were. Remus sighed and leaned back on his hands as he stared at the twins with evaluating eyes. Peter just looked at everyone nervously.

After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Remus sat back up and clapped his hands slowly, almost in a mocking manner. "Congratulations! You are the first ones to figure out the truth about us being the Marauders. Good job!"

James and Sirius snickered at Remus.

Gideon and Fabian smirked. "Knew it." They said together.

James cleared his throat. "If you would excuse us, we have some last minute plans we need to work on."

The bespectacled boy motioned his friends to follow him out of the kitchen. Remus and Peter followed quietly, but Sirius started complaining about being hungry as they left the kitchen. Remus rolled his eyes. Sirius could never stop eating. He was like a garbage disposal.

"We have to beat them." James said as soon as the painting to the kitchen was closed.

"What are you talking about?" Remus asked.

James turned to look Remus. He looked at Remus as if he just missed the most obvious thing in the world. "Gideon and Fabian, of course. We have to beat them. We must become better pranksters then them."

Remus rolled his eyes, but Sirius smirked and nodded his head in agreement. "We can't let them beat us at pranking this school."

"You guys are unbelievable. They are just pranks. It's not a game of who is best at pulling pranks or who pulls the best pranks." Remus replied, rolling his eyes again.

Sirius and James sighed and looked at each other sadly. Their looks made it look as if someone had died with how sad their looks were. They stopped walking and turned to face the boy who was walking behind them with a frown on his face. His arms were crossed over his chest as he stopped too and looked at Sirius and James with a raised brow.

"Remus, Remus, Remus," Sirius shook his head sadly. He put his hands on Remus's shoulders and buried his face in Remus's shoulder. Sighing dramatically, Sirius lifted his head and looked Remus in the eyes. "Have we taught you nothing?"

"Oh, and what have you been teaching me?" Remus asked, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Ignoring the sarcasm, Sirius continued. "We've been teaching all about pranks and how we must be proud of what we do. Pranks are our life here at Hogwarts. We must be the best at what we do."

James swung an arm around Remus's shoulders. "He is correct. Do we really have to go over this lesson again for you to understand that we shall not allow anyone to best us at what we do? I don't want to have repeat lessons, but I will if I have to get you to understand this lesson. It is very important that you…..and Pete know this."

"I didn't say anything. How did I get dragged into this?" Peter asked, looking at James confused.

James leaned past Remus's shoulders to look at Peter. "Do you know this lesson?"

Peter shrugged. "Yeah. It's kind of been drilled into my brain."

"At least someone listens to us when we talk." Sirius commented dryly, giving Remus a fake angry glare.

Remus snorted and pushed Sirius off of him and began walking away. As much as he liked his friends, they could be a tad annoying and a little too dramatic at times. If he spent every waking moment with them, Remus was sure he would go insane. No one could hang with James and Sirius and say that they wouldn't go insane. It just wasn't possible.

Laughing loudly, Sirius ran after his friend, completely ignoring James who was yelling at him in a whisper to be quiet or they were going to be caught being out of bed passed curfew and get another detention. They still had to finish their April Fool's prank and couldn't afford a detention. The detention would take their planning time away. Sirius didn't seem too concerned about that fact and continued to run down the corridor and yelling. His footsteps were echoing around the empty hallway.

Throwing an annoyed glance back at Sirius, Remus took off down the hall to get far away from them before anyone showed to find out where the noise was coming from. He wasn't going to get in trouble for being out after curfew again. There were only a few months of school left and Remus didn't want any more trouble. His mother would murder him. She hated it when he misbehaved. She wanted him to be a perfect little boy and get the best grades and be the top of his class because he needed it because of what he was. He was supposed to the best in everything and never do anything wrong, which meant no fun, because his mother wanted him to succeed in life and he would have it harder since he was a werewolf.

Turning down another corridor, Remus skidded to a stop as he came face to stomach with McGonagall. He looked up into her scolding face and went to take a step back from her since he was only inches from her when a body slammed into him from behind, making him stumble forward and knocked into McGonagall. McGonagall took a few steps back, shocked from the weight being propelled at her. She wrapped one arm around Remus's shoulders to keep Remus from falling over, while Sirius stumbled back from the surprise of slamming into Remus. James rounded the corner just in time to catch Sirius before he fell onto his butt. About a minute later, Peter joined them, gasping for breath and massaging his ribs.

"Sorry Professor." Remus mumbled shyly, looking at the ground.

McGonagall released Remus, allowing him to walk over to his friends. "Why are you four out of bed and running around the castle?" Her hands were planted on her hips as she gave her students a steely glare.

James and Sirius shared a glance and burst into speech at once.

"Well, you see, Professor,"

"We were in our dorm trying to sleep,"

"But just as we were beginning to drift off into dreams….."

"About candy, chocolate, girls, Evans, coughJamescough,"

"I don't dream about Evans! I don't even like her!"

Sirius snorted. "Please, I see the way you look at her. You are always watching her. We all know you like her."

"I do not watch her!" James screamed. "She is so annoying and interfering."

"Boys!" McGonagall scolded. "Quiet!"

The boys fell silent and turned back to look at their professor.

McGonagall looked at each boy in turn before focusing her gaze on Remus. "Lupin, tell me the truth. What were you doing out of bed?"

Remus looked at his friends nervously, biting his lip. His friends glared at him, a warning to be quiet. Sighing, Remus looked back at his professor. "Well, Professor, it is true that we were in our dorm trying to sleep. But then I remembered just before I fell asleep that I forgot my book in the library. I was worried that it wouldn't be there tomorrow because you know that Madam Pince would have done something with it. You know how she is with books. Or maybe a student could have taken it. Anyway, I couldn't sleep, knowing that my book was out there in the library, all alone. I decided to leave to go get it, but as I was leaving, I woke James and he asked me where I was going, so I told him. And James refused to let me go by myself, heaven knows why! So, James got up and then he woke Sirius and Peter, deciding to make it an adventure to go to the library to get my book."

McGonagall held up a hand to stop Remus. "I just wanted to know what you were doing. I didn't need the whole story, but I do see a few flaws in your story. Firstly, where is this book you were looking for? Secondly, you are nowhere near the library. And thirdly, tomorrow is April first. Do you honestly think I'm going to believe you weren't plotting?"

"To answer your first question," Remus reached into his robe pocket and pulled a book out, "this is the book we went to find. Next, we aren't near the library because we were on our way back to the common room, but we took a wrong turn, into a secret passage, I think, and ended up down here. And lastly, do you really think we are plotting something at this time of night? If we are going to prank tomorrow, we're going to set it all up tomorrow as it is a Saturday. We have all day to get the prank set up and don't need to worry about classes."

When he was finished talking, Remus risked a glance at his friends. Peter was bouncing from one foot to the other nervously, looking between McGonagall and Remus, not really sure if he should do or say anything. James and Sirius looked a little shocked, but managed to cover it up by looking at McGonagall in a calm and cool way. They had amusement shining in their eyes and were smiling, both had their arms crossed. Nothing about their postures revealed anything as this was their normal behavior. Actually, if Remus didn't know any better, with just this one glance at his friends, Remus would assume that Sirius and James were twins, especially since Sirius's hair was still short from when Remus cut it. The only difference between them was that James had hazel eyes and glasses while Sirius had grey eyes and didn't wear glasses.

Remus looked back at his professor, expectantly. He looked her in the eye and put his hands in his pockets to hide that they were shaking. This was the first time that he ever actually had to come up with a lie on the spot that didn't involve him having to leave for the full moon or anything else to do with him being a werewolf. He was especially nervous because it was a teacher he was lying to and making up stories to.

Not being able to find anything wrong with the story, McGonagall sighed. She really thought she caught them in the act of pranking. "Twenty points from each of you for sneaking out after curfew and detention. Now go back to your common room."

"Yes ma'am." The boys chorused.

As soon as they rounded the corner, James turned to Remus with a shocked look on his face. "How the hell did you come up with a lie like that and actually get her to believe you? You suck at lying."

Remus grinned. Truth was, he told her the lie like he was telling someone a story. If was acting like it was a story he was telling and not a lie, it was easy to get someone to believe you. This was the first time he tried that theory out. Now that he knew he could do it, it would be much easier to get out of trouble when they were caught doing something.

"So?" Sirius prompted when Remus didn't reply.

Smirking, Remus began to walk away. "It was easy, but that's because I'm the only one of the group with a brain. I don't expect any of you to be able to come up with believable stories off the top of your head like I just did."

James and Sirius gave Remus evil glares as he walked away.

"You know we have to get back at him for that comment, right?" James asked.

Sirius nodded his head.

The boys sat in their corner of the common room around the table where they always worked on their homework and planning pranks when they could. Pieces of parchment sat in the middle of the table with the boys hunched over them. Remus was scribbling on another piece of parchment that was in front of him. It looked like a diagram of something sinister, well sinister to anyone who wasn't a prankster.

A squeaking noise brought the boys out of their planning. They were the only ones in the common room and were surprised at the sudden noise. They looked towards the portrait hole as it closed behind Gideon and Fabian. The twins grinned at them when they saw them.

"What are you four up to?" Gideon wandered over to them.

As soon as the twins started moving towards them, the boys slammed their hands over their parchments to keep everything hidden on them while they gathered the papers up in their arms.

"Aww, don't you want to share?" Fabian pouted.

"We told you earlier. You have to wait like everyone else." James replied as he stood up. He nodded towards the twins and led his friends up to their dormitory to continue to finalize their prank without anymore interruptions.

Fabian grinned and followed the boys up the stairs. "Come on, don't be like that. Maybe Gideon and I can help you."

"We don't take help from anyone outside of the first year Gryffindor boys." Sirius called over his shoulder.

"Trying to prove something?" Gideon grinned.

"Of course, that we are the best pranksters ever." Remus explained before closing the bedroom door.

Gideon laughed. "Didn't they already prove that?"

"By being the Marauders?" Fabian asked.

Gideon nodded his head. "We certainly didn't pull pranks like that in our first year."

"That's because there are only two of us, while they are four of them. They work well together." Fabian replied.

Remus dumped his parchments on James's bed and smiled as he listened to Gideon and Fabian talk about them and give them all those compliments. He still hated having his werewolf hearing to eavesdrop on others, but Remus decided to just embrace it now, instead of hating it and wishing he didn't have it. Wishing did nothing for him. It was better to get used to the fact that being a werewolf gave him heightened senses, strength, and great balance. Those skills were useful at times.

Sirius looked up from the parchment he was looking over and raised an eyebrow. It was very rare to see Remus smiled. Very few things could make Remus smile or laugh. Even when they did prank, Remus didn't laugh at all of them, sometimes he barely smiled at them. It made Sirius think that, like himself, Remus had a dark past. Sirius had to live with a bunch of pureblood freaks who hated muggle-borns and muggles, even half-bloods didn't mean much to them. He had to grow up around them and listen to them saying horrible things about magical creatures and muggle-borns. His family was full of dark witches and wizards that agreed with what Voldemort was doing. It is why Sirius pranks. He feels that everyone can do with a laugh and pranks were his and James way of giving everyone a laugh and making people smile. He loved pranks and making people smile. Remus, though, did pranks just to help James and Sirius keep their pranks perfect so no one got hurt and that they didn't get caught. Sirius wondered if Remus even enjoyed them anymore like he did when he was younger.

"What'cha smiling at, Remus?" Sirius asked, flopping down on his bed and staring at Remus.

Looking at Sirius, Remus frowned. "What did you just say?"

"I asked, what'cha smiling at, Remus?" Sirius repeated.

Remus growled. "You are butchering the English language. Don't speak like that."

Sirius sat up and stared incredulity at Remus.

James looked up from his plans and grinned. "Why? Does it bother ya if we do butcher de English language?"

Remus looked between the two boys, eye twitching slightly.

"Me thinks it does bother de little boy." Sirius smirked.

Remus whimpered at the butchering of the language and covered his ears. He sat on his bed and faced the wall so he couldn't hear or see his friends killing the English language. People butchering the language annoyed him greatly. He always had to be grammatically correct and so does everyone around him.

"Remus?" James questioned, but received no reply from him. He didn't really expect to get a reply though. Remus had his hands smashed so hard against his head that it looked like he was trying to squeeze his head.

"Does butchering the English language bother him that much?" Peter asked.

Snickering, Sirius looked at Remus's back. "Who knew something so small could annoy him."

Yawning, James looked at the clock to see it was a little past midnight. "Come on, let's go to bed. It's getting late."

"Who wants to tell Remus?" Peter yawned. He covered his mouth as he fell backwards onto his bed, dead asleep.

"I'll tell him." James grinned evilly.

"What are you….?" Sirius started to ask.

"BANSAI!" James yelled as he propelled himself from his bed to Remus's bed, his robe whipping behind him. He landed on Remus and both boys tumbled off the bed. One of them shocked and confused and the other was laughing his head off.

The boys landed in a tangled mess of limbs on the floor. James's glasses were hanging on one of his ears. Remus was trapped under James and mumbling something incomprehensible because his shirt was in his mouth. His golden, mysterious eyes were out of focus from the tumble.

Laughing, James pulled his trapped arm out from under Remus and pushed his arms up so he was kneeling over Remus. He fixed his glasses and grinned at his disheveled friend. "You know, Remus, you shouldn't plug your ears like that. If you didn't, I wouldn't have had to tackle you to get your attention, but that was fun."

Remus pulled his shirt out of his mouth. "For who?" He grumbled.

"Don't be like that. You need to learn to have some fun that isn't pranks." James replied. "There are more fun things to do that don't involve pranks. You should discover them."

Remus rolled his eyes. "Is there a reason as to why you tackled me in the first place?"

"It's getting late so we're going to go to bed. I thought you would like to be informed of that fact." James explained. He pushed his glasses back up his nose as they were sliding down since his head was bowed to look at Remus.

Remus grunted and pushed James off of him. James fell backwards and hit his head on Remus's bed.

Remus stood up and brushed himself off. "Don't tackle me again."

"Awww, you're no fun." James pouted.

The scene of him pouting actually looked really funny to Remus and Sirius so they both started laughing. James had his arms crossed and his bottom lip pushed out. It looked funny because he was lying on the floor with his head tilted up to stare at the ceiling because it was propped up by Remus's bed and his glasses were askew again.

James pushed himself off the floor and glared at them before stomping over to his section of the room. "Jerks." He mumbled.

Sirius and Remus continued to snicker at James as they got ready for bed.

The next morning James was woken up by something being splashed onto him. The substance felt sticky to James. He groaned and was almost afraid to open his eyes. But he was James Potter and James Potter is not afraid of anything. So, James reached over to his nightstand and felt the sticky substance slide down his hand and drop to the floor. He grabbed his glasses and jammed them onto his face, running his sticky hairs in his hair and on his face with something tickling his nose. Opening his eyes, James saw Sirius standing over him with his arms crossed and a smug smile on his face. A bucket was hanging on his arm.

"What did you do?" James growled. He sat up and looked at himself to see that he was covered all the way from his torso and up in maple syrup and feathers. He clenched his teeth and looked at Sirius.

"April Fools!" Sirius said happily and ran out of the room.

James clenched his hands and threw the cover of him. He stomped into the bathroom to take a shower to get the syrup and feathers off of him. Good thing that today was a Saturday or he would have been late to class because it took him an hour to get the feathers and syrup off of him. Another half an hour to get washed up to so he wasn't sticky anymore. Though, even with all the washing he did, he couldn't the smell of syrup off of him.

After getting dressed, James stomped down to the Great Hall where his friends were relaxing and waiting for him. James sat next to Remus and glared at him and Peter. "Did you guys know he was going to do that?"

"Do what?" Peter asked confused.

"Throw maple syrup and feathers on him." Remus told Peter before turning to James. His eyes shined with amusement. "No, we didn't know."

James nodded his head and became friendlier with Peter and Remus, but kept glaring at Sirius with venom in his eyes. "I will get you back." James hissed.

Sirius smirked at him. "You can't prank me, Potter."

James gritted his teeth. "Watch me."

"Guys," Remus looked between James and Sirius. "Don't we have a prank to pull today? You don't have time to have a prank war again."

James and Sirius whipped their heads around to glare at Remus. "Butt out, Remus!" They screamed together before they went back to glare at each other.

"What are the rules of our prank war?" Sirius asked.

"Guys, I really don't think you should have another prank war." Remus said warily. "It could cause a lot of problems and get in the way of our Marauders Prank."

"SHUT UP, REMUS!" James and Sirius yelled.

"MR. POTER! MR. BLACK! THERE IS NO YELLING IN THE GREAT HALL!" McGonagall yelled from the Head Table.

Sirius and James nodded their heads sheepishly at her.

"You just yelled yourself, Professor! Isn't that hypocritical of you?" Remus asked, raising a brow.

McGonagall gaped at her student, before blushing and turning back to her plate, refusing to reply to her student.

Remus smirked and turned back to his plate to continue eating.

"How come when we get smart with Minnie we get yelled at but when Remus gets smart with her she doesn't say anything?" Sirius whined.

"She likes me more." Remus replied, grinning.

"But I'm more loveable than you." Sirius pouted.

Remus smirked. "Apparently she doesn't think so."

For a few minutes, silence reined over the boys as Sirius pouted.

The silence was annoying James so he coughed to get Sirius's attention.

"Right, so, what are the rules of our prank war?" Sirius asked, turning his attention back to James.

James cleared his throat and spoke in the way an official would when he was explaining the rules. "To win the Prank War, you must have the most points at the end of the game. Rule 1: No physical harm shall come to any who participate in this Prank War as a prank until after six p.m., but nothing too dangerous for the physical pain. Nothing that will make someone bleed. If it is really dangerous, then it won't count and the team that did it will lose five points. Rule 2: No one but the participants in the war can fall to the pranks. If anyone outside the participants is victim to one of our pranks then the prankster loses a point. Rule 3: The Prank War begins at nine a.m. and ends at midnight. Rule 4: Only Marauders may participate in the Prank War. Rule 5: The Prank War will be teams of two against two."

"LEAVE ME OUT OF THIS!" Remus screamed.

"Mr. Lupin, no yelling in the Great Hall!" McGonagall scolded.

"Rule 6: Each prank that is pulled earns each team one point. If both members of a team falls victim to a prank then the team that pulled the prank gets two points." James continued as if Remus didn't yell. "Rule 7: The invisibility cloak may be used in the game. The team who gets to it first gets to use it. The cloak must be where everyone knows it is so it is fair game for getting it. Rule 8: If the opposing team manages to steal the cloak during the war, they get to use it. At midnight, the team with the most points wins and the winning team gets to decide something the losing team has to do. It can be embarrassing, funny, in public or private. The winning team decides."

Sirius nodded his head. "That sounds fair. I have no objections."

"I do!" Remus growled. "I want no part in this."

James and Sirius continued to ignore him. "If there are no objections, then the Prank War begins now. We just need to pick our partners."

Remus looked at Peter to see that he looked excited at the idea of the Prank War. He was going to be no help to him to get out of this stupid game. Remus looked down the table at Lily. Maybe she could help him. She had promised him that if he even needed help to escape his friends and their antics she would make up an excuse and get him away from them.

"I GET REMUS!" James and Sirius yelled at the same time.

Remus looked at James and Sirius and growled. The idea of helping either of them in the Prank War was painful, especially since he wasn't in the mood to do any pranking.

"Black, Potter, what did I tell you about yelling in the Great Hall?" McGonagall screamed at them.

The boys ignored her and started arguing about whose team Remus was on. While they were arguing, Remus rolled his eyes and slipped out of his seat. Maybe he could slip out of the Great Hall without them noticing and hide so he wouldn't have to take part in the Prank War.

Remus got a few feet away before Peter decided to be mean. "Hey James, Sirius, Remus is leaving."

"WHAT?" James and Sirius yelled. They whipped around in their seats to glare at Remus's retreating back.

"Black, Potter, stop yelling right now!" McGonagall growled. "If you don't, I will give you each a detention."

Sirius and James ignored her and jumped out of their seats. Sirius jumped over the table and he and James chased after the unsuspecting Remus. They lunged at him, knocking him the ground. James sat on Remus's back and Sirius on his legs.

Remus groaned under their weight and whacked his head into the floor a few times. It was foolish of him to think he would be able to get away from his friends when they wanted to have a Prank War. "I hate you guys. I hate you so much."

"So, who gets Remus on his team?" Sirius asked airily.

"I do since I claimed him first." James said.

"No, you didn't. I did." Sirius growled.

"No, I did."

"No, I did."

"I did."

"I did."

"I did."

"I did."

"I did."

"I did."

"OH, FOR THE LOVE OF MERLIN! WILL YOU TWO IDIOTS GET OFF ME?" Remus yelled at the top of his lungs.

Sirius and James fell over in shock at the loudness of Remus's voice.

"Sheesh, you didn't need to yell." Sirius said. He smacked one of his ears to get his hearing back.

"BLACK! LUPIN! POTTER! I HAVE HAD IT WITH YOU THREE! TWENTY POINTS FROM GRYFFINDOR!" McGonagall yelled angrily.

Sirius and James looked at their professor, then at each other. They grinned and stood up and faced their professor again.

"Excuse me, professor, but we need your help to solve a disagreement." James said innocently.

Professor McGonagall looked at them warily, as did everyone else in the Great Hall. If James or Sirius were acting all innocent, it couldn't mean anything good. "What do you need help with?"

"Well, you see, we're going to play a game and we need teams, but James and I both want to be on Remus's team. Who do you…," Sirius grabbed Remus's jacket as he tried to sneak away from Sirius and James again and pulled him back towards them, "think should be on Remus's team?"

McGonagall looked between James, Sirius, and Remus and shook her head. "What kind of game is this?"

"We can't tell you that." James said as he slapped a hand over Remus's mouth to stop him from telling McGonagall their plans.

"Nothing good can come from either of you being on Remus's team." McGonagall sighed. Remus knew more spells than most first years with all the reading he did and Sirius and James were smart and would be able to pick up on the spells he taught them easily. Not just that, but James and Sirius were huge troublemakers. She knew nothing good was going to come from the game these boys were going to play.

"So, Professor?" James prompted.

Professor McGonagall looked between the three boys again. She saw Sirius determined and evil grin. James looked mischievous today and Remus was giving her pleading eyes to stop this madness. Knowing there was nothing she could do to stop whatever James and Sirius were planning sine they weren't any classes because it was Saturday and they haven't done anything wrong yet, Professor McGonagall had to ignore Remus's plea. "Sirius and Remus are a team." She said after a few minutes of thought. Remus would be able to control Sirius. He was the craziest of the four boys, but she was confident that Remus would be able to control him in whatever the game was that they were going to play.

"YES!" Sirius screamed, pumping a fist into the air.

"Damn it." James swore under his breath so McGonagall wouldn't hear him, yell at him, and possibly give him a detention.

Remus groaned and fell to the ground. He buried his face in his arms.

James sighed. "Peter, you're on my team!"

Sirius pulled Remus to his feet and looked at his opponents. "On GO! the game begins."

James nodded his head. "1…."

"2.…"

"3…."

"GO!" Sirius and James yelled together.

Sirius grabbed Remus's arm and pulled them out of the Great Hall.

"Where are we going? I thought this was a Prank War." Remus asked.

Sirius looked at him over his shoulder as he continued to run down the corridor. "We have to try to get the cloak first and some prank supplies from our dorm. You have all that prank supplies you got for Christmas and your birthday that we can finally use and I have some things we can use."

Sighing, Remus tugged his arm free and raced after Sirius.

"Cheer up, Remus. This is going to be fun. It's a War game, sort of. Don't think of it as a Prank War, but as War between friends for fun." Sirius said.

A blue curse flew over their heads causing Sirius and Remus to duck their heads. They looked behind them to see James and Peter chasing after them with their wands drawn and firing spells at them.

Jumping to the side to avoid another spell that was fired at him, Remus growled and decided that he had had enough. He drew his wand and started to shoot hexes back at his opponent. Out of the corner of his eye, Remus saw that Sirius had stopped running and was shooting hexes at James and Peter too.

Remus fired a jelly-leg curse at Peter and turned his attention to James to help Sirius take him down. He watched Peter out of the corner of his eye in case he got up.

"That's considered a prank, right?" Sirius asked Remus. Remus nodded his head, making Sirius smirked. "That is one point for Team….."

"I get to pick the name of your team and you can pick the name of ours." James interjected. "Your team is Team Lion."

Sirius smirked. "And your team is Team Evans."

"WHAT?" James screamed angrily, cheeks turning red and he was waving his wand arm in the air.

Snickering, Sirius fired a Trip Jinx at James, but he ducked so the jinx went over his head. James laughed. "Give up, guys. You can't beat us."

Something flared inside of Remus at those words. He felt the desire to win this stupid war now. It was now a matter of pride in winning the game. Actually, now that Remus thought about it, it was always about pride since the losing team will most likely have to do something embarrassing in front of the whole school if James or Sirius have any say in it which they do. Remus wanted to win now. He wasn't going to let James hurt his pride. The werewolf inside him wouldn't allow his pride to be hurt.

"Sirius," Remus growled as he deflected a jinx."

Sirius paused for a second to blink in surprise at Remus's tone before going back to the battle. "Yeah Remus?"

"Hold these two off. I'll go get the cloak and supplies." Remus hissed, his grip tightening on his wand.

"How long do I need to hold them off?" Sirius asked as he ducked another hex.

Remus jumped behind a suit of armor as a jinx came flying at him. Peter was back into the battle. "I just need a few minutes."

"How are you going to get to the tower that fast?" Sirius asked.

_Werewolf speed_ Remus thought….."I just need a few head start." Remus said. He crawled out from behind the suit of armor and raised his wand. "Expelliarmus!"

Peter's wand went flying out of his hand and to Remus, who caught it expertly. He pocketed it and turned to Sirius for confirmation of his plan.

Sirius nodded his head, so Remus took off down the corridor.

"He took my wand!" Peter screamed, looking annoyed.

Sirius fired a hex at Peter that changed his skin color to pink. "Another point for Team Lion!"

James clenched his teeth. "Tarantallegra!"

Sirius's legs started to dance uncontrollably.

"Point for Team Evans!" Peter declared.

James and Peter grinned and ran off down the corridor, leaving Sirius alone to dance.

Remus burst into his dorm and dropped to his knees in front of James's trunk. Remus plunged his hand into his pocket for Peter's wand and threw it onto James's bed so Peter could get it and so that Team Evans would know that he was there before he threw the trunk lid open and starting throwing everything in the trunk out of it as he looked for the invisibility cloak. He wasn't exactly sure as to where James put his cloak.

After a few minutes of searching everywhere in James section of the room Remus found the cloak in James's nightstand. Just as he reached for the cloak, Remus heard feet thundering up the stairs. Remus grabbed the cloak, jumped onto his own bed, and threw the cloak over himself just in time. As soon as he turned invisible, the bedroom door was slammed open and James and Peter burst into the room, the latter rubbing his ribs and breathing heavily.

James's eyes swept over his area of the room and he let out a strangled scream as he looked at the mess. "REMUS!"

Under the cloak, Remus winced from the volume. He clamped his hands over his ears as they continued to ring.

James ran over to his nightstand and yanked the drawer open. He pulled it out of the nightstand and dumped all his possessions out of it onto his bed. He pushed everything around on his bed as he looked for the cloak. After a minute of pushing everything around, James fell to his knees. "That prat has got the cloak."

"So, what do we do now?" Peter asked.

"Find that prat and get the cloak before he gets to Sirius!" James screamed and ran out of the dorm with Peter following behind him, who slammed the door shut behind him.

Remus waited a few minutes to make sure that the team wouldn't come back before he jumped off of his bed. He shook his head, amused. His friends were really not observant. If they were observant then they would have noticed the bed being pushed down as if someone was standing on it. They could have easier caught him if they noticed. He would have to teach his friends to be observant when this game was over. For now though, Remus threw his trunk open and grabbed the pranking supplies he got for Christmas and his birthday. He shoved them in his pocket and threw the cloak back over himself and leaving to find Sirius.

Remus ran down to the corridor where the two teams fought the first time in this game. He didn't meet James or Peter on the way down there so he was beginning to worry about where they were. He would expect them to be going down this way to wait for him to go back to Sirius.

That thought got Remus to slow down and start to walk slowly along the empty corridor he was in. James and Peter would be waiting near Sirius for him. They might be trying to ambush him when he goes back to get Sirius.

Remus continued down the corridor to meet Sirius more quietly and with softer steps so as to not alert James and Peter to his presence when he reached Sirius. He turned right at the end of the corridor and saw Sirius still dancing in the middle of the hallway. Remus walked over to him.

"Sirius," Remus whispered in his ear, "I'm back. Where are James and Peter?"

Sirius's eyes roamed over to the nearest suit of armor.

Remus followed his eyes to look at the armor. He nodded his head before realizing that Sirius couldn't see him. Shrugging, Remus turned back around to the armor and walked silently over to the armor. He peeked around the armor to see James and Peter crouched there, each looking at a different end of the corridor. Smirking, Remus pulled out a smoke vial and two dungbombs that his father "improved" for him for his Christmas present. He walked back over to Sirius and drew his wand. "Finite Incantatem!" He whispered, pointing his wand at Sirius.

Instantly, Sirius's legs stopped dancing and Remus turned back to the suit of armor. As soon as James and Peter saw Sirius's legs stop dancing, they knew that Remus was there, so they jumped out from behind the suit of armor with their wands drawn. Remus didn't give them a chance to do anything. He lit the dungbombs and slipped a hand out from under the cloak and threw them at Peter and James.

The dungbombs exploded, but instead of just giving off an odor, silver and green paint exploded out of them and onto a surprised James and Peter with the horrible smell.

"What the hell?" Sirius asked, shock in his voice and on his face.

"Two points for Team Lion!" Remus's voice came out of nowhere.

"REMUS!" James yelled angrily. He looked directly where he saw Remus's hand come from earlier. He lifted his wand to hex Remus, but before he could, he heard glass shattering on the ground and white and gray smoke appearing, blinding all the boys.

Remus pulled the cloak off and stuffed it in his cloak. He grabbed the back of Sirius's cloak and ran off down the hallway.

"Finally using the vapeur bombe I gave you months ago I see." Sirius said. He pulled himself free and started to run aside Remus. "What were those things that covered Peter and James in paint? I thought they were dungbombs."

Remus spared his friend a glance. "They are dungbombs, just improved ones I got for Christmas from my dad. He put magically paint inside them and kept the odor in them too."

"What's the difference between magically paint and regular paint? I never knew there was a difference." Sirius asked curiously.

"Magical paint doesn't come off floors, walls, clothes, etc. It only comes off skin and hair. To get it off everything else, you need to perform some charms or use this magically paint remover. I don't know the spells though or have any of the paint remover." Remus replied.

"Who cares what the spells are? I'm sure Flitwick will be able to get it cleaned up in a jiff. We just need to worry about winning this war." Sirius replied.

Remus nodded his head. "What do we do now?"

"James and Peter will be coming after us. Let's be ready for them." Sirius grinned evilly.

James wiped the paint off his glasses and put them back on. "Where the hell did Remus get those?"

"We'll have to ask him later when the game is over." Peter replied. "Do we chase after them?"

James shook his head. "No, that's what they want. We have to go set up a prank for them somewhere else."

Each team got their prank set up in their own area of the castle. The trouble with this was that they had to make sure that no one but their opponents stepped into the trap. If someone else stepped into it, they would lose a point. Neither team wanted to lose points. They all wanted to win badly.

"A decoy?" Remus suggested.

"What?" Sirius asked.

"James isn't stupid enough to follow us. He knows that we are going to set up a prank for him. He won't follow us. But what if we sent someone to find him and Peter and lure them back here so they can step into our prank?" Remus explained.

Sirius nodded his head. "It's a good idea, but what if they have a prank set up? We would be walking right into it."

"Sacrifices are necessary to win a war." Remus replied. "We give them one point if we have to if it means they walk into our prank."

"Or we could…" Sirius stopped and smirked. "I'll go get Team Evans here. You stay here and make sure no one walks into our prank."

Remus was a little wary of letting Sirius be the decoy, but nodded his head anyway.

With the approval given, Sirius jumped to his feet and ran off down the corridor. He skidded to a halt when he reached the corridor where the paint dungbombs went off. He looked around the corner to make sure that James and Peter were gone and that their prank wasn't going to go off there. The only person he saw in the corridor was Flitwick, who looked amused as he cleaned the paint up.

Sirius chuckled and rearranged his face into that of an innocent expression. He walked around the corner and smiled innocently. "Hello Professor."

"Hello Mr. Black. Would happen to know where the paint came from?" Flitwick asked cheerfully.

"No sir." Sirius replied convincingly as he walked passed.

When Sirius rounded the corner at the end of hallway, Sirius dropped the innocent look and smirk. He took off running down the hallway. He needed to find a student, any student would do.

Leah Peirs, a first year Hufflepuff girl with auburn hair that reached her shoulders and bright sage eyes, rounded the corner and ran into Sirius, who was turning the corner to. She fell to the ground and glared up at Sirius.

"Oh, I'm sorry Leah." Sirius smiled charmingly at her, making her blush.

"It's alright, Sirius." Leah replied.

Sirius held his hand out for her and pulled her to her feet. "So, where are you heading on this fine Saturday afternoon?"

"Oh, nowhere really. I'm just walking." Leah said, smiling a little.

The two set off down the hallway together. Leah didn't even realize that Sirius was leading them around the castle. She was just following him because he was holding her hand and any girl would be out of their mind to not follow someone as handsome as him.

Sirius looked at the pretty girl he was leading into the prank that James had set up. He almost felt guilty doing this to her. She didn't deserve it, but he wanted to win this game, damn it! He would not lose to James Chrysanthos Potter! He would just have to make it up to Leah later.

_Where are those two? You think they would set up their prank somewhere where I would walk into it. How am I supposed to find them? _Sirius smiled at Leah.

"Are you finished, Peter?" James grunted.

Sirius's ears perked up. He stopped and pulled Leah to a stop today. He put a finger to his lip to tell her to be quiet. Sirius looked around the corner to see Peter standing on James's shoulder and hanging something over the bar of one of the torches that was sticking out of the wall.

"Yeah," Peter replied.

James sighed in relief and let go of Peter's feet, making the shorter boy topple to the ground. Peter hit the ground and groaned. "Did you have to drop me?"

"I couldn't handle your weight on my shoulders anymore." James rubbed his sore shoulders.

Sirius turned back to Leah, who was watching him confused. He smiled at her and walked around the corner while pulling her along. He slowed his pace so Leah would overtake him.

James and Peter looked up when the two rounded the corner. They looked shocked at them. James saw Sirius slow down and Leah walked pass him. His eyes widened when he realized what Sirius was doing.

"Leah," James called and jumped forward a little to try to stop the girl.

Not realizing that he was trying to get her to stop, Leah continued walking. As she was walking, she felt something dig into her ankle. Before she could even react to something digging into her ankle, a net fell onto her making her fall down onto her back, followed by balloons filled with glue and little plastic bedazzled gems that girls used to decorate their clothes.

James and Peter gaped at that, while Sirius smirked at them. "Team Evans loses a point." Sirius mouthed at them.

"Oh, damn it, Leah, I'm sorry." James said.

Leah screamed. "You prats!"

James glared at Sirius. "Low Black, very low. Using her as a decoy."

Sirius shrugged. "I'll do whatever it takes to win. In case you didn't know, I have three points, while you guys have none."

"Remus got most of those points." Peter growled.

"Like it matters, we are still beating you losers and at least we are not pranking innocent bystanders." Sirius said smugly.

James let out an enraged scream and lunged at Sirius, whose eyes widened and turned around and took off down the corridor, back to where Remus was waiting for him. Growling, James followed him. All rational thought lost as he chased after his best mate, waving his wand crazily in the air.

Peter sweat dropped as he watched them running away. He heard a grunt and looked at the angry girl trapped under the neat. He looked between the retreating forms of his friends and Leah. Seeing that she was angry and realizing he would rather walk into a prank then deal with an angry girl, Peter took off after his friends, leaving the poor girl there.

James threw a trip jinx at Sirius, who tripped and fell onto his face, than James hexed him with a boil hex. "Two points to Team Evans. Take that Sirius!"

Sirius growled and stood up. He pulled his wand out and cast a stinging hex at James, who screamed in shock. "Point to Team Lion! Score six to two."

A rain cloud appeared above Peter who finally caught up to them. A thunder storm started on him.

"Point to Team Lion! Now it's six to two." Remus said as he pulled the cloak off of himself.

"REMUS!" Sirius yelled. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be making sure no one walks into our trap."

"McGonagall appeared and before I could get out of hiding to warn her, she walked into it. So, we lost a point for that." Remus replied.

"WHAT?" James, Sirius, and Peter yelled frantically.

Remus smiled. "Don't worry. She doesn't know what we are doing because she didn't see me. This cloak really came in handy. It was really funny, but I think we should avoid that part of the castle today."

The other boys nodded their heads in agreement before departing in their own directions. They decided that they would go their separate ways and play their Prank War in a different way. A way that would not end in them getting themselves caught by a professor. They were already almost caught by two professors.

All day the boys had to keep their guard up for the enemy. If they let their guard for even one second they could be pranked. None of them could afford to be pranked if they wanted to win this war.

By dinner time, the other students and the teachers were on edge. Pranks were being played all around them and they were sure that it was James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus doing. They all knew those boys would do something today. What they hadn't expected was that it would be them pulling pranks all around the school. They thought it would be a big prank on the whole school at some point during the day.

The marauders were annoyed though. All the students and teachers were getting in the way of their war. Earlier, James threw water balloons at Remus when he saw him walking by. He got a point for that, but then lost it when one of his balloons hit a passing by student. Or when Sirius gave Peter a plate of cookies filled with hot sauce. Evans took one of them after Peter ate one, making Sirius lose the point he got. It was starting to annoy the boys.

By six the boys were getting desperate for points. They need to get points to win this game and no students or teachers were going to get in their way anymore. Not now that causing physical pain counted as a prank.

At this point, James tripped Sirius down the stairs and Sirius countered by setting James's jacket on fire. Luckily, Remus was watching nearby that he put the fire out with a water charm. After putting the fire out, Remus cast a tickling charm on James before running down the stairs to reach Sirius and help him up.

All four of them were trying to make it to dinner, but they were having difficulty with that because they were all pranking each other as they were walking. Each team wanted to win badly.

By the time that they reached the Great Hall, dinner was halfway over and each of them was bruised with scratches and little cuts on them. In addition to looking like they were in a fight, Sirius's short hair was now spiked and the tips of the spikes were blue. Remus was soaking wet from the water balloons he got hit with recently and his shirt now read, 'I like ponies!" James was walking backwards and was still covered in the paint that Remus threw at them earlier. None of the boys could figure out what spell Remus used to make James do that. And Peter, besides being covered in paint too, still had the storm could above him and was sneezing uncontrollably.

"This is getting ridiculous." Remus growled, running his hand through his short, wet hair. His wet shoes were making squeaky noises as he walked and it was annoying him.

"Just think, we still have five hours to go." Sirius replied, grinning. He, unlike Remus, was enjoying the game.

Remus rolled his eyes and grabbed a napkin nearby and dripped in his goblet of water. He squeezed the excess water out of it and placed the damp napkin on his cut lip, wincing as it stung a little. Five more hours of this torture? How was he supposed to survive?

The boys just barely started to eat when McGonagall marched over to them. "Black, Lupin, Potter, Pettigrew, I want to know and I want to know now. What are you four doing? Students and teachers are being pranked left and right and your four looked beaten up."

Remus growled. He has had enough of this game. "It's a Pr…"

Sirius, James, and Peter slammed their hands over Remus's mouth at the same time, making the young werewolf fall off the bench from the force of three hands slamming into his mouth.

McGonagall raised a brow at the odd behavior. She crossed her arms and glared at her students.

"We are just playing a game, Professor." Sirius said innocently.

Remus bit the hand that was on top of his mouth, which happened to be James's hand. He yelled in pain and pulled his hand over. He waved it in the air and glared at Remus. "That wasn't necessary."

"Yes, it was." Remus replied.

"Boys!" McGonagall said angrily.

Remus rolled his eyes. "Honestly Professor, what does it matter what we are doing today? It's not like we can get in trouble today since it is April first. We are just playing pranks, though we did have a big prank planned for today that we spent weeks planning, we aren't going to be able to pull it now since these three idiots forgot about it and decided to have a Prank War instead!"

"Whoopsie," Sirius grinned.

McGonagall sighed, turned around and walked away. She really didn't want to know.

By the end of the day, Team Lion had the most points and won the Prank War. And as for what the losing Team Evans had to do, let's just say that April 2nd of 1972 was never spoken of again at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Team Lion Team Evans

11111111 1111111

**A/N: Vapeur bombe (French): smoke bomb**

**Please review!**


	21. Chapter 21: Not so Perfect Lives

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

**The Marauders Year 1**

**Chapter 21: Not so Perfect Lives**

"What the hell is wrong with teachers?" James grumbled as he threw his Defense book onto the table. He leaned back in his seat, crossed his arms, and glared at all the parchments full of notes and books on the table in front of him.

Remus rolled his eyes and kept writing notes on his parchment. It was the same thing going on for the last two hours. Every five minutes or so James or Sirius would decide to throw the book or parchment they were looking over onto the table and say something, then have Remus snap at them, and they would go back to studying. It was starting to get on Remus's nerves.

"I mean, honestly," James continued when Remus decided to ignore him this time, "there are five weeks left until exams. Who begins to study this early in advance?"

"Not all of us are as smart as you and Sirius. Some of us actually have to study to pass tests and get the grades we get." Remus snapped before opening his Potions book.

James frowned. "What's got your knickers in a twist?"

Remus slammed his book shut and ignoring the librarian's glare, he looked up at James with narrowed eyes. "I'm sick of hearing you and Sirius complain about studying. It's getting on my nerves. But what is really annoying me is that you two can get the best grades of our year without even trying, while I have to study my arse off just to pass."

"It isn't my fault that everything just comes to me easily." James replied.

"Of course, because nothing is ever James Chrysanthos Potter fault. He is just too perfect. He can do no wrong!" Remus retorted.

Sirius looked up from his parchment, deciding it was time to intervene. "Remus, I think it's time to take a break. You seem a little stressed."

"It's no surprise really. All he's been doing for the past three days is studying." Peter said without looking up from his notes. "Class and studying! He's barely eaten anything since he's studying while he eats. The food very rarely makes it way in his mouth because he is so focused on his book.

"Why don't we stop studying today and go outside? It's a nice day and we could all do with a break." James suggested.

Remus's eyes narrowed. "You guys go. I need to continue studying and it will be so much easier without you guys here."

James glared at him. "No, you're the one who needs the break most of all. Don't think I haven't noticed you sneaking out of the dorm in the middle of the night when you should be sleeping. Maybe you should take a nap."

"I don't need you telling me what I should and shouldn't do, James." Remus hissed. "I can decide what to do on my own."

"No, I don't think you can, Remus. You're not getting a lot of sleep and it is showing because you have been so easy to get riled up these past couple weeks." James retorted. He shoved his books in his bag before grabbing Remus's things and shoving them inside his bag. He threw both bags over his shoulder and left the library with an angry and annoyed Remus following him.

"JAMES!" Remus yelled angrily in the corridor.

James stopped and turned around to face Remus. "Yes?"

"Give me my books back." Remus growled.

"There are five weeks left, Remus. You don't need to study every freakin free moment you have." James moved closer to Remus and poked him in the chest. "You need to learn to relax and have fun. If you study every moment you get and not relax and have fun, you'll just freak out during the test, get all nervous, and probably forget everything during the test."

Remus pushed James's hand away. "I'll study the way I want and you can study the way you want."

"It doesn't work that way, Remus, not when you are getting up in the middle of the night to sneak out of the dorm to go study." James growled.

"I'm not studying when I'm sneaking out of the dorm." Remus replied.

James raised a brow. "Then what are you doing?"

Remus blushed and looked at the ground.

"Don't look at the ground. What have Sirius and I told you about this? You never look at the ground when talking with someone. You have to show confidence; otherwise people are just going to walk all over you." James said. He put his hand under Remus's chin and lifted his head. "Don't drop it again."

Remus sighed. "Sorry."

"Firstly, stop apologizing for everything. How many times am I going to have to tell you that? And secondly, if you are not studying at night, then what are you doing?" James asked again.

Remus shook his head and blushed, but didn't bow his head again.

James sighed. He tightened his grip on the book bags and turned around to walk away. "When you've learned to relax, taken a nap, and told me what you are doing in the middle of the night, I will give you your books back so you can continue to study."

"You act so much like a parent that it's scary." Sirius said, coming up from behind Remus with his book bag swung over his shoulder.

James rolled his eyes and walked away with Peter and Sirius, leaving Remus standing in the middle of the hallway, glaring at his back. He turned his head to look at Remus again so that Remus could see that he was serious.

Sighing when his friends rounded the corner, Remus turned around and headed in the opposite direction to go to the Gryffindor common room. With his friends going outside and his books confiscated BY A FRIEND, if that wasn't weird then Remus didn't know what weird was, then Remus had time to work on the project he's been working on for the past few weeks.

Outside James was lounging on a branch in the beech tree with Sirius and Peter sitting on the ground below him. They were very few people outside. The others students were either eating an early dinner or were studying. Nothing exciting has happened in a couple weeks since students were starting to settle down to study their brains out for the next few weeks.

"I'm actually surprised." Sirius was saying as he looked towards the castle doors.

"About?" Peter asked.

"Well, doesn't Remus usually chase and yell at us when we take his school books? He didn't even attempt to get his books back. He just yelled and that is all." Sirius replied. He looked up at James with a raised brow.

James frowned at him. "You're right. That prat is up to something!"

Peter rolled his eyes. "You always think someone is up to something when they do something different, but then you find out that nothing is up. They just don't want to follow the ordinary routine."

"I bet it has to do with why he's been getting up in the middle of the night." James said, ignoring what Peter said. He jumped out of the tree and landed on his feet in front of his friends. "I'm going to find out what he is up too!"

Sirius grinned. "Well, tell us what you find out."

"Will do!" James waved to them as he walked away. "Meet you in the Great Hall!"

James walked into the Entrance Hall and stopped. Where was he supposed to go to find Remus? The last time he saw him was outside in the corridor and James was sure that Remus wasn't going to still be there. So, where was he to go?

"Potter!" A sharp voice yelled at him.

James looked around to see McGonagall approaching him. "Yes Professor?" He readjusted the bags on his shoulder.

"What are you doing?" McGonagall asked suspiciously.

"I'm looking for Remus." James explained. "Would you know where he is?"

"I saw him heading in the direction of Gryffindor Tower, but I don't know if he is there." McGonagall replied.

James smiled. "Well, thanks. I'll check there."

James ran up the stairs, ignoring the yells from McGonagall to walk. He was going to figure out what was going on with Remus even if it took him years.

Remus was sitting on his bed with markers, quills, paint, wood, and paper surrounding him. He was almost done with his project. He just had a few more things to do and his project would be completed.

After a few more minutes of work, Remus held his project out in front of him and nodded satisfied just as the door to his room was slammed open. Startled, Remus dropped his project on his bed and looked up to see James marching into the room. James threw the book bags on his bed and looked at Remus.

"I see you aren't taking a nap like I suggested." James said nonchalantly.

Remus shrugged.

"What is that?" James pointed to everything on Remus's bed.

Remus blushed and jumped off his bed. He pulled the curtains shut and smiled. "Nothing for you to worry about. What are you doing here anyway? I thought you were going outside."

"I was, but I noticed something suspicious about you. You didn't come chasing after us to get your books back like you usually do. I see it's because of a project you were working on." James looked at the curtains around Remus's bed. "Now, what is this project?"

"Nothing!" Remus said quickly.

James took a few steps towards Remus. "Then let me see it."

"It's nothing! Go away, James!" Remus replied.

James smirked. He pulled his wand out. "Petrificus Totalus!"

Remus's limbs snapped together and he fell to the ground, unable to move so he just glared at James as he pulled the curtains apart around Remus's bed. He picked up the completed project and stared at it, his mouth hanging open. "Remus, what is this?"

James released Remus.

"James, I…." Remus stopped and blushed.

James looked at the painting. It was of the Marauders. He was lounging in the beech tree. Sirius was leaning against the tree with one of his legs bent and resting on the trunk of the tree. Peter was lying on the ground and Remus was sitting against the tree, reading a book. It was them spending a normal day outside. The frame of the painting had a raven, lion, snake, and a badger in each corner of the frame. Between the cravings of the animals was the name of each house at Hogwarts.

James looked up from the painting and stared at Remus.

Remus looked at the ground and shuffled his feet. "I know it's not really good."

"Not good?" James asked slowly. "Remus, this is awesome. I didn't know you could draw. Why did you draw this?"

"Well, you know how I didn't give you a gift for your birthday?" Remus asked. He looked up and smiled at James.

James nodded his head. He found that strange. When asked why he didn't get James anything for his birthday, Remus just blushed and said he didn't have anything to give yet or he would runaway after being asked. James was a little offended that his friend hadn't given him anything for his birthday. He got something for Sirius and Peter, but him nothing. It made James think that Remus didn't really think of him as a friend.

"Well, I was making you this, but it wasn't done yet. I've been so busy with homework, hanging with you guys, classes, and having to go home, that I haven't had time to work on it to get it done. I've been sneaking out at night to work on this so I could get it done so I could give it to you." Remus explained.

"This is for me?" James asked.

Remus nodded his head.

James broke into a grin. "Thanks Remus. This is awesome! You shouldn't keep your skills at drawing a secret. Come on; let's go to dinner so we can show Sirius and Peter."

James practically ran out of the dorm with the painting. Remus rolled his eyes, but smiled a little and ran after James.

Sirius looked up from his dinner when James and Remus ran into the Great Hall. He swallowed the food in his mouth and put his fork down. "What are you so happy about, James?"

"Sirius, you have to see this painting!" James said excitedly.

"It's not that good." Remus added.

"Shut it, Remus. It's awesome." James waved a hand at him as he looked at Sirius. "He's just being modest."

Sirius smiled. "Well, don't hold out. Show me it."

James passed the picture to Sirius. Peter bent over Sirius's arm to look at the painting too. They stared at the picture for a few minutes before looking up at Remus. "You made this?"

Remus nodded his head. "I know it's doesn't look really good."

"Remus, shut up!" Sirius ordered. "You need to stop being modest. This is awesome! How come you never told us you could draw?"

"I'm not a good artist." Remus replied.

Sirius raised a brow. "But you are!"

"You guys are just being good friends by saying that." Remus mumbled.

James threw his hands into the air. "Since he won't believe us, let's go ask someone else to give their opinion." He looked up and down the table. "Who should we ask?"

"Let's just ask random people!" Sirius declared and stood up.

James grabbed Remus's arm and dragged him down the table. "Hey Angel, Shawn, can we ask you something?"

"Sure," Angel replied, looking at the first years with a gentle smile.

Sirius showed her the painting. "What do you think of this painting? Is it good or bad?"

Angel examined the painting and smiled. "It's great. Where did you get it?"

"Remus drew it, but he keeps insisting that it's horrible." James replied, rolling his eyes.

Shawn leaned over Angel's shoulder to look at the painting. "I can't see why he would keep saying that. This is really good. I've never seen anyone draw this well."

"See Remus?" James turned to Remus. "I told you it was great."

Remus made a sound of disagreement but was ignored by his friends and the two fifth years as they examined the picture more thoroughly.

Clicking shoes made the boys and Angel look up to see McGonagall approaching them with a suspicious look on her face. "What are you boys up to?"

"Professor, why must you always suspect we are up to something?" Remus sighed.

"Because you boys are always up to something," McGonagall replied.

"That is not true. We are not always planning something. We have better things to do then plan pranks all the time." Remus said.

Sirius grunted. "I guess Remus has a point. We do have other things to do."

"We aren't doing anything, Professor." James said, looking at her.

McGonagall eyed the picture that James was holding and raised a brow.

"This?" James raised the painting and smiled. "This isn't anything dangerous. It's from Remus so it can't be dangerous."

"Not necessary true, James. Don't you remember that he got me Fanged Frisbees for my birthday? Remus does give dangerous things away." Sirius objected.

James nodded his head. "Good point, Sirius." He turned to Remus. "Why didn't you get me anything that can cause mayhem for my birthday?"

Remus's eyes widened and he blushed. He shook his head.

James frowned, but didn't press the matter any farther. He would just figure it out later when they weren't so many people around to see his friend's discomfort. James would never make his friends uncomfortable in front of others if it was about something serious or if it was a personal matter. He turned back to Professor McGonagall. "It's just a painting."

McGonagall raised a brow so James showed her it to prove his point. "That is a really going painting. I didn't know you could draw, Mr. Lupin."

Remus nodded his head.

"But would you boys please sit down and eat." McGonagall continued.

"Of course, Professor."

For the rest of the month life went on normally for the Marauders, well as normal as things can get for the Marauders. A few things were different though.

Sirius was always in a bad mood now. He pulled a lot more pranks and studied very little. The pranks against the Slytherins became a lot more embarrassing and some of them were really dangerous. His sour mood caused him to snap at anyone who annoyed him, even his friends. He eventually stopped pulling pranks altogether.

Remus was becoming more withdrawn and spending all his time studying for his exams. He avoided his friends like the plague and when asked why he didn't want to hang with them anymore he would just say that he had to study. He no longer wanted to prank nor do anything fun. Without him to help with the pranks, they were becoming a lot more dangerous, but he didn't seem to care.

Peter was even acting weird. He got a letter from home and has been acting strange ever since then. James always found him sitting in the common room, staring mindlessly out the window or studying. Like Remus, he didn't want to do anything besides schoolwork now.

For the life of him, James could not figure out what was wrong with his friends. When he tried to ask one of them what was wrong, he got yelled at or ignored. He was beginning to get annoyed with all three of them and their horrible attitudes. So, he started to ignore all of them and they all ignored each other in return.

The silent game among them became noticed by a lot of people and teachers when no pranks were played by the boys and the fact that the boys no longer sat together in class or at meals. They each sat by themselves and sulked.

After two weeks of the silent game amongst them, James got even more agitated with his friends. He just wanted to know what was wrong with them. They were all friends. Friends shouldn't keep things from each other. So, because he was sick of the silent treatment, James took his friends' wands in the middle of the night and locked all four of them in their dorm. Then he locked his friends' wand in his trunk and sat on his bed to wait for them to wake up.

Sirius was the first to wake up and after getting reading for class, he realized that he couldn't find his wand so he turned to James. "Do you know where my wand is?" He growled.

James nodded his head.

"Where is it?" Sirius asked annoyed.

"Locked in my trunk and it's going to stay there until we all talk." James replied.

Sirius turned around to face his friend completely. "Why can't you mind your own business?"

"Because you are my best friend! Your business is my business. I just want to know what is wrong." James snarled. He stood up and glared at Sirius.

"There is nothing wrong!" Sirius retorted, taking a threatening step towards James. "Now give me my wand."

James shook his head. "Don't you lie to me! I know something is wrong. You haven't been acting like yourself for the past few weeks. I don't want another friend lying to me."

Sirius and James both looked over at Remus then back at each other.

"What are you two prats yelling about?" Peter growled from his bed. He sat up and glared at them.

"Good, you're up!" Sirius hissed. He pointed at James. "This prat took our wands and locked them in his trunk. He refuses to relinquish our wands to us until we tell him all that is wrong in our lives. Nosy little…."

James glared at him. "You don't have to tell me everything. We've got years to learn about each other. I just want to know what is going on with you three. You all have been strange for the past few weeks. You guys are my friends and none of us are leaving this room until we have spoken about whatever is wrong."

Sirius growled and sat on his bed with his arms crossed.

Ignoring him, James moved over to Remus's bed. "Remus, get up! Remus!"

Remus mumbled something and rolled over in his sleep.

"Damn it, Remus, GET UP!" James yelled and he kicked the smaller boy out of his bed.

Remus growled and lifted his head over the bed to glare at James. "What the hell did you do that for?"

"We need to talk." James replied.

"Now?" Remus looked at his clock. "We have to get to class. We can talk later."

"No, we are talking now." James hissed. He went back to his bed and sat down. He stared at his friends. "So, who wants to say what is wrong first?"

The boys sat in silence for twenty minutes. Peter and Remus silently got ready for school in that time, while Sirius glared at James, who was examining his nails as if he didn't have a care in the world.

"I can spend all day here. I don't care about class right now." James told them.

Three glares were the reply he received.

"So, Remus how is the studying?" James asked.

"Fine." Remus grunted.

James smiled and nodded his head. "You know that our pranks are getting more dangerous without you there to help us and we are getting caught more times without you. It would be nice if you began to help us again. We could really use your planning skills. Sirius is becoming more reckless."

Remus leaned back on his bed and crossed his arms.

"Peter, how is your studying? Do you need help with anything?" James turned to face Peter.

Peter twitched a little. "I need some help in Potions, Transfiguration, and Defense."

"Well, why didn't you say anything?" James sighed. "Sirius can help you in Potions, Remus in Defense, and I'll help with Transfiguration, okay?"

"Thanks." Peter replied.

James turned to Sirius. He opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by Sirius.

"Oh, stop it, already!" Sirius screamed and jumped to his feet. "You want to know what's wrong? Well, I'll tell you. School is ending soon and I'll have to go back home!"

The other three boys looked confused.

"I know you hate your family, but why is going home a problem?" James asked.

Sirius glared at him. "I'm a Gryffindor. Things at my house are going to be horrible during the summer. My parents will hate me for being a Gryffindor. In case you didn't notice they didn't want me home for Christmas or Easter. And now I have to go back there for two months."

"No, you don't." James said quietly.

"What?" Sirius snapped.

James stood up. "You don't have to spend two months there. You can come to my place for a few weeks. My parents won't mind. In fact, all of you can come over. They would love to meet my friends. Honestly, mate, was that all that was bothering you? I wasn't going to let us spend two whole months apart. I would die of boredom."

Sirius smiled. "Thanks mate. Let's just hope that my parents won't care about you being a Gryffindor. They don't want me hanging out with anyone but Pure-bloods, so maybe they'll look pass you being a Gryffindor."

"They must hate me then." Remus muttered.

Sirius frowned. "Probably, but I don't care what they think. You're my friend too, Remus."

James sat back down. "We got one problem fix. Who wants to go next?"

Peter and Remus glanced at each other.

"Come on, guys." James sighed.

Peter dipped his head. "I got a letter from my aunt a couple weeks ago. She said that my dad tortured my mom into insanity. I never told you guys because I was scared, but…my d-dad has been…..a-abusing me and my mom since I was five. He just lost it then when…my older sister was killed. He loved her so much." Peter sniffed and rubbed his eyes.

"Peter….." James looked at Sirius and Remus. "You're not going back there, are you?"

"My dad was found guilty for doing that to mom. He's in Azkaban now and I'm to live with my aunt now. I love my aunt, but my mom…." Peter fell quiet.

"I'm so sorry, Peter." James said compassionately.

Peter shook his head. "I'm just glad I don't have to worry about my dad anymore. I miss my old dad. He was great."

The boys fell into an uncomfortable silence. None of them knew what to say to this.

James cleared his throat and tugged at the collar of his shirt. "Remus?"

"I don't have a problem." Remus replied. "Let's just go to class. We already missed our first class."

"No, Remus!" James growled. "Just tell us what is wrong."

Remus glared at him. "There is nothing wrong. I don't see why you think there is a problem."

"Because when you gave me that painting and I asked you why you didn't get me something dangerous that we can use for chaos like you did for Sirius and Peter, you blushed and wouldn't look at me. Then after that you started to avoid us. Now what is wrong?" James asked angrily.

"Nothing for you to worry about." Remus said scathingly. "Now, let me out."

James crossed his arms and shook his head.

"Open the damn door!" Remus growled.

"Remus, you are my friend and I want to help you with whatever is wrong, so you are staying in here until you tell me." James replied.

Remus glared at him and sat down. He grabbed his potions book and started studying.

James sighed and moved over to Peter's bed to help him study for Transfiguration.

The only sound in the room for the next few hours was James explaining Transfiguration to Peter. Sirius was sitting on his bed quietly, waiting for Remus to talk so he could get out of the room.

It wasn't until Sirius's stomach started to grumble that the boys acknowledge each other at all.

"James, how about you let Peter and me out so we can go get some food?" Sirius suggested, rubbing his stomach.

James nodded his head and moved to his trunk. He unlocked it and pulled out two wands and his invisibility cloak. "You don't want to be seen sneaking food to us." He said as he tossed their wands back.

When Sirius and Peter left, James locked the door and sat on his bed and looked at Remus. Remus looked back at him with narrowed eyes.

"Why won't you talk to me?" James asked.

"You don't need to know everything about everyone, James." Remus snapped. "I'm allowed to keep some things to myself. You are so nosy."

James stood up. "I'm being a friend. There is something wrong and I just want to know what. I want to help you. Is it so wrong to accept help from a friend?"

"You can't help me so just let it go." Remus hissed. He slammed his book shut and pulled the curtains closed around his bed.

"Oh, no you don't." James growled. He wrenched the curtains open and pulled Remus out of the bed. "Why is it so hard for you to accept help from others?"

"I don't need help." Remus said angrily.

James narrowed his eyes. "Potions."

"What?" Remus snapped.

"You need help in Potions. It's your worst class. Sirius and I keep offering to help you with it, but you keep refusing. Why won't you let us help you with anything?" James asked. He crossed his arms and glared at his friend.

Remus crossed his arms and glared back. "I don't need help in Potions and if I did, I wouldn't want your help."

"And why is that?" James asked.

"Because you're an arrogant jerk!" Remus said.

"How so?" James questioned.

Remus clenched his fists. "You have such a perfect life. There is nothing wrong in your life. Nothing could ruin it. You always get the best grades without trying. There's nothing wrong in your family. You act like you're the best thing in the world. You just a spoiled brat. Your parents give you everything you want. I bet they don't care about anything you do. You can do no wrong in their eyes. You are their precious little boy. Everyone always has to give you their attention when you are doing something. You are just an attention seeking prat! I hate the fact that you can get your grades without even trying. I always have to work hard at everything I do to get it perfect. And you come and just do it. It annoys the hell out of me."

"Feel better?" James asked when Remus finished.

"NO!" Remus yelled. He moved away from James and towards the wall. He rested his forehead against it.

James moved a little closer to his friend. "Remus?"

Tears filled up in Remus's eyes. "I have to go back home where my dad isn't waiting for me. He would be waiting for me if I just ran when he told me too."

"Remus, I thought you moved pass this." James said quietly.

Remus whipped around to face him. "Moved passed it? HE WAS MY FATHER! How can you expect me to move pass it."

"I'm sorry, Remus. I didn't…" James struggled to find the right words.

"Without my dad around who had a steady job, my mom had to get two part time jobs just so she could pay all the bills." Remus said angrily. He turned back to face the wall again so James wouldn't see that the tears in his eyes started flowing down his face. "She's having so much trouble keeping up with the bills and keeping food in the house. And that's my fault because I didn't move when I was told to. She won't even have enough money for my school things either I bet. But then again, what does that matter? I only promised my dad and Professor Dumbledore that I would attend one year at Hogwarts. I don't want to come back for another year here. There's no point in me coming to Hogwarts anyway."

James stared at his friend in shock. "Remus…"

"Why am I such an idiot?" Remus screamed. He punched the wall with as much strength as he could muster up.

"REMUS, WHAT THE HELL?" James yelled. He grabbed Remus's arm to stop him from punching the wall again. "Damn it, you broke your hand. Why the hell did you do that?"

"Let go." Remus growled, tears still flowing down his face. "LET ME GO!"

"Remus, you need to calm down!" James said. "Remus!"

James slammed his friend against the wall. "Remus, I want you to calm down and listen to me."

Remus nodded his head. He took a few calming breaths.

"First of all, I can't help that everything comes easily to me. I'm sorry, but there is nothing I can do about that. People are just different that way. Same with my family. We are all born into different families. Envy is not your thing, Remus. Secondly, you need to stop blaming yourself for your father's death. That is not your fault. He died protecting you. That's the way a parent would want to die, protecting his child. Your mom has two jobs because she wants to get enough money to be able to send you back to Hogwarts. She wants you to continue you education. And thirdly, what the hell do you mean by saying you don't want to come back to Hogwarts?" James was holding Remus's shoulders roughly as he said all this.

Remus shook his head. "I don't want to deal with this anymore. I don't want my mom have to use money that she needs for me to continue Hogwarts. I'm tired of being a burden on everyone."

"You are not a burden." James hissed. "And you are not quitting Hogwarts. Sirius, Peter, and I won't let you. You are going to pass your exams with top marks, you are going to spend the summer hanging with us, and you are going to come back to Hogwarts for your second year. You are not going to be a coward and drop out. Your father wouldn't want you to run from your problems. He wants you to face them and he wants you to continue to learn magic. Understand?" James growled.

Remus stared at his friend, surprise shining in his eyes.

"Remus, do you understand? I'm not leaving any of my friends behind." James said.

"What's going on in here?" Sirius asked as the door swung open.

James turned to face him. "Remus is just being an idiot again."

Sirius looked at Remus. He noticed the tears trailing down his face, but chose not to say anything for his friend's dignity. Remus never cried and probably didn't want his friends to see that he was, so it was best to just ignore it now.

"Remus and I are going to the Hospital Wing. We'll be right back to join in the feast you brought." James eyed all the food in Peter's and Sirius's arm. "There are only four of us. I don't see why you had to bring that much food."

"I'm starving!" Sirius cried.

James laughed and got Remus's wand out of his trunk. He tossed it to its owner. "Just don't eat all the food. Remus and I are starving too."

"Why are you going to the Hospital Wing anyway?" Peter asked.

"I already told you. Remus was an idiot." James replied, rolling his eyes. "The idiot punched the wall."

Sirius snorted. "Nice one, Remus."

Remus glared at him as James dragged him out of the dorm.

"What did you boys do now?" Madam Pomfrey asked when she heard the Hospital Wing's door open and saw the two enter. "I swear I've had you and your friends in here more times than students who have been here for seven years."

James grinned. "Remus broke his hand, ma'am."

"And how did he do that?" Madam Pomfrey asked, raising a brow.

"Oh, he and the wall just had a disagreement." James replied cheekily.

Madam Pomfrey sighed and chose to ignore James cheek. "Mr. Lupin, sit on one of the beds."

James watched the nurse leave before turning to Remus. "I know you are going to disappear soon."

"What?" Remus's eyes snapped to James, fear in his eyes. "W-what are y-you talking a-about?"

"You disappear every month. You're going to disappear soon. I'm going to find out why you leave school once a month, Remus. You can count on that. You can either tell me why or I can find out on my own, but either way I will find out." James said.

Remus's eyes widened. "I…my family just has a lot of health problems."

James shook his head. "Stop lying, Remus."

Remus gulped. His friends couldn't figure out why he disappeared each month. They would hate him and not want him here anymore. As soon as they figure it out they will tell everyone what he is. James will retract his statement from earlier and say that he doesn't what Remus at Hogwarts anymore.

"I'm not hiding anything!" Remus said frantically.

"Sure you aren't." James replied nonchalantly, looking around the Hospital Wing.

Madam Pomfrey coming back over to them stopped Remus from replying. She was carrying a smoking goblet with bright green potion inside. "Drink this, Mr. Lupin and your hand will heal."

Remus grabbed the goblet in his unbroken hand and grimaced as he looked at the potion.

"Drink all of it." Madam Pomfrey said sternly.

Scowling, Remus drank the potion, shuddering as the nasty tasting potion slid down his throat.

"Now give me your hand." Madam Pomfrey ordered.

Remus lifted his hand and Madam Pomfrey waved her wand over it while muttering a few words to complete the healing process.

"Thanks Madam Pomfrey." James said and grabbed Remus's hand to drag the boy out of the Hospital Wing.

Remus looked at his friend nervously, waiting to see if he would continue the conversation he started in the Hospital Wing. But James acted as if no conversation took place as he chatted about a new prank idea for the Marauders to pull on the last day of school when they revealed that they are the Marauders.

The next Sunday Remus spent the whole day in the library studying away. An hour before the full moon was to rise, Remus left the library and went to Hospital Wing. After what James said last week, Remus was too nervous to tell his friends that he was leaving again. They would probably yell at him when he returned for not telling them that he was leaving, but he would rather that then have to face them right now with another lie.

As soon as he got to the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey hustled him out and to the Shrieking Shack, where he looked around. This was his last full moon at Hogwarts for this year. He would have to spend three full moons locked in his basement after tonight. Since he began at Hogwarts, everything in the shack was broken and covered in blood. The bed in one of the rooms was all torn up and had springs sticking out of it. A chair had two of its legs demolished and the stuffing from it was all over the living room. One of the steps on the stairs had a big chunk missing out of it like the wolf took a big bite out of it. There were scratch marks on the walls and floors all around the house.

Remus grimaced as he looked around the shack. He hated seeing all the damage he caused as a wolf. It was a horrible sight. Remus could understand why people were so scared of werewolves when he looked at the damage that he causes when transformed. Just think of what he would do if he wasn't confined! It was a scary thought for him.

The young wizard froze in examining the house. A jet of pain went through his body, making him stiffen in his step. Another jet came after the first and Remus fell to his knees. He screamed out in pain as his limbs broke and reformed in the shape of a wolf. His hands and feet changed to claws as Remus howled in pain. His insides began to change as he grew fur and his head lengthened.

The beast let out a painful howl as the transformation finished. It fell to all fours and whined in pain for a few minutes. When it felt better, the werewolf stood up and started to run around the shack, wanting to find prey.

There was no prey in the shock, though, and that angered the wolf. It wanted flesh and the taste of blood in its mouth. It needed to attack something. The wolf craved the thrill of the chase of its prey as much as it loved the blood in its mouth.

All night the wolf attacked itself since there was no other prey in the shack. It tried to break out of the shack by ramming its head against the wall, door, and window, but no matter how hard it tried, the wolf could not get out.

Not soon enough, the moon lowered and the sun took its place. The wolf howled in pain as it shrunk and its bones broke and reformed as human bones. Its insides rearranged to that of a human and the claws retracted and became human hands and feet.

In the place of the wolf, a small boy lied on the floor, curled into a ball, crying out in pain with no one there to comfort or help him. He was alone for half an hour before the trap door to the shack was opened and a kind looking woman came inside. She smiled sadly at the small boy on the ground. She wrapped him in a cloak and conjured a stretcher up for him.

"But Madam Pomfrey, I only have a week left until exams. I need to go to the library." Remus whined later that night. "And my friends are going to want to know where I am. I didn't tell them I was leaving last night."

"Yes, I realized that when I had the three of them in here for half an hour demanding to know where you are." Madam Pomfrey replied. She handed the young wizard a smoking goblet. "Drink up."

Remus glared at the potion. He hated the way they tasted. He shuddered as the foul tasting potion made its way down his throat. "Can I please leave? I have to study!"

"Oh, honestly, Mr. Lupin! You are worrying too much about these exams." Madam Pomfrey responded.

"But I feel fine, honest, Madam Pomfrey. I don't have to stay." Remus replied, giving her his puppy dog eyes.

Madam Pomfrey sighed. "Fine, go, but don't do anything stupid or dangerous."

Remus grinned and jumped out of bed. After getting dressed into his school uniform and grabbing his wand and bag, he ran out of the Hospital Wing.

"REMUS!"

Remus heard his name being yelled as soon as he left the Hospital Wing. He stopped running and looked around for who was yelling for him. Three boys wearing Gryffindor uniforms were racing towards him. The two black haired boys skidded to a halt in front of him, while the third knocked over a suit of armor.

"You okay, Pete?" Remus asked as James and Sirius burst out laughing.

"Yeah." Peter struggled to his feet and smiled at Remus.

"So, Remus, why didn't you tell us?" Sirius demanded after he finished laughing at Peter.

"Tell you what?" Remus asked, sighing.

James rolled his eyes. "That you were leaving."

Remus shrugged.

"What did you have to go home for anyway?" Peter asked.

Remus turned around so his friends wouldn't see him getting nervous. He started to walk away towards the Great Hall for dinner, knowing that his friends would follow him. "….I had to go home for my cousin, Selene's wedding. She really wanted me there so I got permission from the Headmaster to leave to go there."

"You still should have told us that you were leaving. We were worried that something happened to you." Sirius said.

"And not without reason it seems." James added. He stepped in front of Remus to stop him. "What happened to your cheek?"

Remus blinked. "What?"

"You have this huge cut on your cheek. It looks like it going to leave a scar. What happened?" James demanded.

Remus lifted a hand to touch his halfway healed cut. "I….there was alcohol at the wedding and one of the people there got really drunk and broke a glass. One of the shards from the glass hit me and cut my face. It's no big deal."

"Must have been a very sharp piece of glass," Sirius replied as the group started walking again. "That's a very nasty cut."

"Now you can tell people some heroic story for how you got that scar!" James grinned.

Remus rolled his eyes. "No thanks."

James pouted. "Why not?"

"Because I'm not egotistical like you?" Remus suggested.

"I'm not egotistical!" James protested.

Remus patted his arm sympathetically. "Keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better, but you're going to have to face the truth eventually."

"But I'm not!" James replied.

"It does no good to hide from the truth." Remus told his friend before entering the Great Hall.

James followed him with narrowed eyes. "I'M NOT EGOTISTICAL, LUPIN!"

Half the students and pretty much all the teachers in the Great Hall snorted.

Remus turned back to James with a smirk on his face. "Ha! You just proved that I'm right!"

"What?" James stopped, confused.

"Only an egotistical bighead like yourself would yell that for the whole Great Hall to hear because you want attention." Remus explained.

James stared at his friend, open mouthed as he sat down.

"He's got you there, mate." Sirius said as he went to sit with Remus.

"You're just as much egotistical as him, Sirius." Remus said without looking up from his plate.

"You wound me, Remus!" Sirius said dramatically, falling onto Remus's shoulder.

Remus looked at Sirius with a raised a brow. "That just proves my point."

"I'm not denying that I'm not egotistical, only James is." Sirius replied as he sat on. He looked down by the Great Hall doors where James was still standing, looking like a fish out of water. "OI, WAKE UP, JAMES! IT'S TIME FOR DINNER!"

James snapped out of his trance and shook his head. He walked towards his friends, glaring at the laughing Remus.

**A/N: I finally got it to where James is the only one with a perfect life!**

**Please review!**


	22. Chapter 22: Making Plans

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

**A/N: I know I put Mrs. Norris in one of the earlier chapters, but I'm changing the cat's name. There is no way Mrs. Norris could at Hogwarts this early on and still be there when Harry attends. Mrs. Norris is now Lady Bona, first thing I could come up with.**

**The Marauders Year 1**

**Chapter 22: Making Plans**

"GET UP YOU BLOODY IDIOTS!" Remus screamed loudly as he set bangs off with his wand. His three friends screamed and fell out of their beds. They lifted their heads to glare at him.

"Well, isn't this a role reversal." James said as he put his glasses on. "Aren't we the ones who are usually waking you up?"

Remus didn't look the least bit amused. He was frowning and pushing his short bangs up. "Stop joking around. We are supposed to be in the Great Hall in ten minutes to get our exam schedule and our first exam begins in fifteen minutes I think."

"They don't give us a lot of time to prepare for that one, do they?" Sirius asked amused as he pulled his trousers on.

Peter began to button up his shirt. "How did we manage to sleep in this late anyway? Didn't we set our alarms?"

"No, I thought we did, but apparently we forgot." Remus growled, tapping his foot impatiently and glancing at his watch every few seconds. He was nervous enough about his exams. He just wanted to go and take his first one and be done with it.

By the time the three boys were finished getting dressed, they were late to getting to the Great Hall. They had to run all the way there and just skidded to a halt in the Entrance Hall in time to hear the end of Dumbledore's speech about why exams were important and wishing them all good luck.

Breathing heavily, the boys slipped into the Great Hall. They wanted to make it to their seats unnoticed, but Dumbledore was still standing up so he saw them coming in. "Ah, Messrs Black, Lupin, Potter, Pettigrew. It is so nice of you to join us."

"Oh, so sorry for interrupting Professor. We had the misfortune of forgetting to set our alarm and slept in, so if you would just ignore us at the moment we can go sit down." James grinned impishly at him with his eyes shining with amusement.

Remus stared at him with realization in his eyes. He clenched his fists. "You prat! You turned our alarms off so we would wake up late on purpose!"

"I don't know what you are talking about." James replied innocently.

"I missed breakfast because of you!" Remus said angrily.

James patted his arm. "Maybe this will teach you to get up on your own for now on."

"Like that is ever going to happen." Peter snorted.

"Boys, if you are quite finished, could you sit down?" Dumbledore motioned to the empty seats at the Gryffindor table.

James smiled. "Righty-o."

Remus smacked James in the back of the head as he walked pass. James turned his head to glare at Remus, who was grinning innocently at him. "Fair warning, Lupin, I know where you sleep." James hissed as he sat down.

"Have you been stalking him, mate?" Sirius asked, wriggling his brow.

James sent Sirius a disgusted look. "No, you prat. We share a dorm with him."

"Right." Sirius replied unconvinced. "So, Remus, ready for the exams?"

"No!" Remus replied frantically.

Sirius sighed. "You need to calm down, mate. You're going to do fine."

After a week of exams and dealing with a frantic Remus, Sirius and James were ready to hex someone into oblivion. The exams were too easy for them and they thought the same thing of Remus. He was smart, even if he didn't think he was. They were hoping he would calm down when the exams were over, but he was still freaking out as he waited for the results to come out.

"Remus," James said innocently two days after their exams ended.

Remus stopped pacing to look at him. "Yeah?"

"STOP PACING!" James yelled. "You did fine. I'm sure of it, so could you just please relax?"

"Relax? RELAX? How the hell can I relax when I just failed all those exams?" Remus screamed, waving his arms wildly.

Sirius looked up from his Quidditch magazine. He sat up and turned to Remus. "Remus, mate, you really need to calm down and think rationally. All this panicking is doing you no good. You are one of the best in our year in all our classes except Potions. What we really need right now is some fresh air. That will help you calm down. All of us, outside now!"

James and Sirius each grabbed one of Remus's arms and forcibly dragged the smaller boy outside. Peter followed them and was carrying a bag that James and him had been going through when Remus's pacing had driven James to start yelling at him. The group earned many strange and suspicious looks from the students and teachers they passed. In return to the looks, James and Sirius smirked with the smirk that usually meant they were planning something.

Outside, James and Sirius dropped Remus under the beech tree and sat down on his either side of him. Peter handed the bag to James and sat in front of the three other boys. James opened the bag and smiled.

"So, Peter and I went to Hogsmeade yesterday." James started.

"WHAT?" Sirius screamed and leaned pass Remus to glare at James. "How dare you go there without Remus and me?"

"You two were in that detention for throwing those balloons filled with slime at students in celebration of exams being over." James explained, smirking. "How did you guys get caught anyway?"

Sirius glared at him. "We don't all have invisibility cloaks that help in our escape."

James grinned. "Yeah, well, Peter and I decided to go to Hogsmeade and get some things." He reached into his bag and pulled out four butterbeers. "For our own celebration."

"Mmm, butterbeer." Sirius drooled. He loved butterbeer. "Give me."

"No need to be greedy." James handed a bottle over to him. "Want one, Remus?"

Remus sighed and took one of the bottles. He hated it when they snuck into Hogsmeade. They weren't allowed there until their third year. Couldn't they obey at least one of the school rules?

"Awww, Remus doesn't look happy that we snuck into Hogsmeade." James cooed mockingly. "I know what he needs to understand that rule breaking is alright." Smirking, James reached into his bag again and pulled out a big chocolate bar. "Want it, Remus?"

"You know I can't say no to chocolate." Remus grumbled and reached for the chocolate.

James pulled it out of his reach. "What do you say about sneaking to Hogsmeade?"

"It's fun." Remus mumbled.

"And?" James waved the chocolate bar in front of Remus's face.

"We should do it more often." Remus sighed dejectedly.

"Now, don't be like that or I can't give you the chocolate." James said.

Remus glared at him.

"How much do you want this chocolate?" James shook it in his hand. He stopped and thought for a moment. "I can only give it to you if you cheer up and stop worrying about exams. Your worrying is driving us crazy. You passed them all, I'm sure you did, even if you didn't accept our help to tutor you in Potions, which I don't get at all."

"He's just too damn proud to accept help from the two biggest troublemakers this school has seen." Sirius said.

Remus raised a brow. "Why would I ask Gideon and Fabian for help?"

James and Sirius stared at him, shocked.

"YOU BLOODY PRAT!" Sirius yelled and launched himself at Remus after putting his butterbeer down of course.

"AHHHH!" Remus yelled as he was knocked backwards into James with Sirius on top of him.

"SIRIUS, YOU GIT!" James yelled indignantly.

"Oi, you three knock it off." Bilius called after them as he walked pass with his friend Jake.

"Loved to!" Remus replied as he tried to push Sirius off him. "Get off, Sirius."

James grunted under the weight of his two friends.

Sirius shook his head. "Not until you tell me who the school's biggest troublemakers are."

Remus rolled his eyes. "I've already told you. Gideon and Fabian. Weren't you listening?"

Growling, Sirius grabbed Remus's jacket and started to shake him roughly. "They. Are. Not. The. Biggest. Troublemakers. Hogwarts. Has. Ever. See. You. Bloody. Git. James and I are them. How dare you say they are?"

"Sirius…you c-choking….m-me." Remus gasped out, trying to pry Sirius's hands off his jacket.

"Sirius, can you two gits get off me?" James snarled from under them.

Sirius kept hold of Remus and rolled off of James. He pinned the smaller boy beneath him as James stood up and dusted himself off. After readjusting his glasses and fixing his robes, James glared at the two of them, then at Peter who was laughing at them.

"Now, Sirius, be reasonable. Gideon and Fabian have been here longer and have caused more chaos than us. It only makes sense that they are the biggest troublemakers in the school." Remus said in a calm, steady voice. He looked at James with pleading eyes though. He wanted the bigger boy off of him.

James sat next to him. "Sorry Remus, but I have to agree with Sirius here. We are the biggest troublemakers. Look at our pranks. They are awesome. We are the Marauders. Have you seen our pranks? Those two have nothing against us. Just think what our pranks will be like when we learn more magic."

"If I agree, can I have that chocolate bar?" Remus asked, eyeing the candy lying on the ground nearby.

James smirked. "As long as you stop worrying about exams and help us with the prank that we are going to do to reveal we are the Marauders and agree with us, then sure you can have it."

"You guys are the biggest troublemakers Hogwarts has ever seen." Remus said.

Sirius ruffled Remus's hair. "Good boy. Take the chocolate."

Remus grinned and knocked Sirius off of him.

Sirius lay on his back and stared at the sky. "You could have knocked me off you the whole time?"

Remus looked up from his chocolate bar. "Yeah, sure, I just decided it would be nice of me if I let you think you won."

"You stupid prat." Sirius growled as he sat up. "I will win on my own."

Peter looked passed his friends. "Guys, Professor Dumbledore is coming towards us."

"WE DIDN'T DO IT!" Sirius yelled frantically.

James and Remus stared at him. Sirius blushed and went back to his butterbeer before his eyes widened. "Guys, we need to get rid of the butterbeer before he gets here."

James grabbed the bottles and threw them in his bag and kicked the bag to the other side of the tree then sat down and leaned against the tree. "We tell him nothing."

"Agreed." Sirius, Remus, and Peter said.

They all looked towards their Headmaster who was still strolling pleasantly across the grounds acting unaware to all the strange looks the students gave him. Apparently it wasn't normal for the Headmaster to be strolling around lazily outside, which the boys found odd. It is his school. Why shouldn't he be allowed to walk around on the grounds?

"Ah, boys, do you mind if I steal Mr. Lupin for a moment? I have some things I need to discuss with him." Dumbledore asked when he reached them.

James, Sirius, and Peter turned to look at Remus with confused looks. Why would the Headmaster want to talk with Remus? He hadn't done anything wrong as far as the boys knew and they were almost one hundred percent sure that Remus wouldn't do anything wrong to get him in trouble without him. What made everything weirder was that Remus looked confused too.

"Well, Mr. Lupin, let's go to my office. This is a private conversation." Dumbledore turned and walked back towards the castle, humming a tune to himself.

Remus shot his friends a worried look as he stood up and followed his Headmaster.

"Weird, I wonder what Dumbledore wants." James said concerned. He watched his friend and Headmaster walk away until they were in the castle. It couldn't be about anything bad, could it? He really hoped not. He didn't want his friend to get into trouble. Remus hated getting into trouble.

"Forget about it. Remus will tell us when he comes back. It will do us no good to worry about it until Remus tells us what he wants." Peter replied.

Sirius sighed. "You're probably right." He leaned back against the tree. "So, what are you guys doing for the summer?"

"I don't think I'm doing anything." Peter sighed. "Just a boring summer."

James grinned. "Don't worry. I already said you guys could come over to my place." He turned to Sirius. "How bad are your parents?"

"They are horrible, James. They are going to be so bad now that I'm a Gryffindor. Before I came to Hogwarts, they knew I was going to be different. I always questioned their views on the world and that got me into a lot of trouble. Now I'm a Gryffindor. They are going to try even harder to get me to agree with their views. I don't want to stay there, James." Sirius buried his face in his hands. "You have no idea of how bad it will be. Even I don't know for sure how bad."

James clapped his on the shoulder. "Which is why I'm going to get you out. I'm a Pure-blood and so is Peter. They are going to have some respect for you for hanging out with Pure-bloods. They won't be bad about that, even if we are blood-traitors, we are still Pure-blood."

"Yes," Sirius lifted his head and grinned. "That just might work, James. They'll be mad that I'm a Gryffindor, but if they know I'm friends with Pure-bloods, even if those Pure-bloods are blood-traitors in their opinion, I might be able to stay at your house for a while. We just have to plan this right."

Remus followed his Professor nervously to his office, racking his brain for what he could have possibly done. Nothing was coming to mind though. He spent all his time studying for the past month and the only thing bad he did was throw those balloons filled with slime at people, but he already got punished for that. So, why did the Headmaster want to talk with him?

Dumbledore stopped outside the stone gargoyle that led to his office. "Jelly Slugs."

The stone gargoyle moved aside and a spiral staircase started moving upwards. Dumbledore stepped on and motioned for Remus to come up too.

In his office, Dumbledore sat behind his desk and Remus sat in one of the chairs in front of it. Dumbledore smiled at Remus, his eyes twinkling in amusement. "You aren't in any trouble, Mr. Lupin. I merely wish to talk with you."

"Okay." Remus said unsure, but no longer nervous as he knew he wouldn't be getting in trouble.

Dumbledore folded his hands. "You have made some great friends here at Hogwarts."

Remus blinked. Was that what Dumbledore wanted?

"Three very troublesome friends." Dumbledore's voice was laced with amusement. "They are very loyal to you, aren't there? I can see that they can care a lot about each other and you. Have you ever thought about telling them about your condition?"

"I will never tell them. Yes, I have thought about telling them, but I won't. I love having friends. I'm not going to risk losing them just so they can know that I'm a werewolf. They are perfectly safe not knowing." Remus replied stubbornly.

"That's a shame. They seem like very loyal friends. I don't think they would abandon you over something like this." Dumbledore said, staring at Remus with eyes that made Remus feel like he was being x-rayed.

Remus stared back. "No offense, sir, but you don't know everything. You can't know what their reactions would be. I've dealt with this for seven years now. I know that they will hate me when they know and they will get me expelled."

"You know that Mr. Black and Mr. Potter are smart. They will eventually discover the truth." Dumbledore responded, looking around his office.

"I know and I will face it then, but for now, I will keep lying to them. Having friends is great and I don't want it to end." Remus said, rubbing his forehead nervously. He leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. "They are the first people to call me their friend since I got bit, but I guess that is my fault. I never wanted to have friends because I knew the dangers, but they were persistent. This past year has been great. If I lost them, I don't know what I would do. They are the greatest friends I could ask for."

"So, you will be joining us next year? I remember that when I came to visit you to ask you to attend Hogwarts, you only promised one year at Hogwarts. Will that stand or will you be coming back?" Dumbledore asked, smiling at his student.

Remus sat up and turned his gaze back to his Headmaster. "I have to, won't I? I already talked to James about this and he says that I have to come back. The way he said it, I think that if I try not to come back, he and Sirius will come to my house, kidnap me, and bring me back here."

Dumbledore chuckled. "Yes, as I said, they are very loyal and trusting. You four have definitely grown close to each other these past few months."

The two fell into silence for a few minutes. Dumbledore looked around his office so he wasn't staying at his student as he thought. He knew it would make him uncomfortable.

Remus crossed his arms and developed a thoughtful expression on his face. His friends were very smart. James and Sirius were two of the best in their year. He knew that they would figure him out eventually. They were already suspicious of him. How much longer would it take for them to figure out? It was one of the few reasons that Remus didn't want to return for his second year. He didn't want to face them if they discovered the truth.

"Remus, I have one thing I would like to discuss with you." Dumbledore said a few minutes later.

"Yes sir?" Remus looked up at him.

"The full moon." Dumbledore smiled. "How are there here? Are they worst or better than when you are at home?"

Remus thought back to each full moon he spent at Hogwarts compared to the ones at home. At home, he got locked and chained in the basement. Here he got to roam around a house. The transformations at home were horrible because the wolf was fighting with all its strength to break free of the chains and look for prey. This made everything worse at home because the beast was angered because it doesn't like being chained.

"The transformations in the shack are better. The wolf hates being chained and loves being able to roam the house. At home, the wolf gets chained up and it fights harder to get free. The wolf is really mad at home." Remus replied, avoiding his Headmaster's eyes. Talking about what the wolf loves and hates wasn't an easy topic for him.

Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully. "Would you like to come here for your transformations? You can have someone bring you here and I can escort you to the Shrieking Shack. That way the wolf doesn't have to be chained."

"Can I really?" Remus asked, looking at his Headmaster.

Dumbledore nodded his head.

"Thank you, sir. I would love that." Remus said excitedly.

Dumbledore smiled. "Just have someone bring you here a couple hours before the transformation."

"Yes sir." Remus replied.

Dumbledore stood up. "Now, I'm sure your friends are waiting for you. Enjoy your last week here." He motioned to the doors to show that Remus was dismissed.

"Thank you sir." Remus replied. "Enjoy your summer."

"I will. Thank you." Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling.

Remus grinned and left the office. His transformation problem was solved. His mother wouldn't have to worry about her jobs and his transformations now. Madam Pomfrey and Professor Dumbledore would be able to help him those nights. Now that he had his problem solved, all he had to do was finish planning the Marauders prank and invite….."Damn it! How could I have forgotten about that?" Remus screamed. He ran down the rest of the way to Great Hall.

"James, Sirius, Peter, I completely forgot to tell you guys something." Remus screamed as he ran towards them.

The boys mentioned looked up as their friend skidded to a halt. "What's that, Remus?" James asked amused.

"Well, the Quidditch World Cup is this summer…" Remus started.

"I forgot about that!" James and Sirius yelled.

"What are you guys yelling about?" Shawn called down to them.

"The Quidditch World Cup is this summer!" James yelled back. "Remus just reminded us."

"But he hates Quidditch. How would he know that?" Bilius asked.

Remus sighed. After his father died, he decided to give Quidditch a chance. Turns out it really wasn't that bad of a game. He did have some fun playing as a Keeper the more he played and got better at it. "I don't hate. I kind of like it now. And right now, that isn't the point!"

"Then what was the point in bringing it up?" James asked, grinning now.

"Well, my uncle is Head of the Magical Games and Sports department at the Ministry and for Christmas he got me prime tickets for the game. I was supposed to invite you lot along to go with me to the game, but I forgot, so I'm inviting you now." Remus replied, shrugging.

James stared opened mouth at him. "You…you! YOU HAVE PRIME TICKETS FOR THE WORLD CUP AND YOU DIDN'T TELL US! WHAT KIND OF FRIEND ARE YOU?" He yelled and jumped over the table to tackle Remus to the ground and shake him violently.

"James….James!" Remus struggled under his friend.

Bilius leaned over the table to see James practically choking Remus. "Uh…..James, he's turning blue. Maybe you should let him go."

James reluctantly let his friend go and stood up. "And to answer your question, Remus, of course we are coming to the World Cup with you."

"You four are insane." Shawn muttered as he walked out of the Great Hall with Angel.

"Being sane is boring!" Sirius yelled after him. He turned around to find Remus sitting down and filling his plate. "What did Dumbledore want to talk to you about?"

Remus looked up. "Oh, nothing important."

Sirius snorted. "Fine, don't tell us, but I know it had to be something important."

Remus rolled his eyes.

After an uneventful week of fireworks being set off every waking hour of the day, dungbombs being thrown left and right at students and teachers, Peeves zooming around the castle and pelting students with various things, and excited talk about the World Cup it was finally the last day of the school year. A feast was happening that night and the students would be leaving on the train tomorrow night.

As for their exams, all of the Marauders passed. James, Sirius, and Remus were in the top ten with Remus being two, James was one, and Sirius was three. Remus would have been higher but his potion grade wasn't really the best and Sirius messed up in Astronomy. He never liked that class. Lily Evans came out as four and Severus Snape was five. Lily was really mad about this and kept glaring at the Marauders. She was really sure that they had cheated. There was no way those three could be the top three. They were always fooling around.

"Before the feast begins, I would like to congratulate Ravenclaw on winning the Quidditch Cup." Dumbledore began.

The table farthest to the right erupted into cheers.

Dumbledore smiled and let them cheer for a few minutes before he silenced. "Yes, well done, Ravenclaw, but now is the time to hand out the House Cup. In last place….oh dear, Gryffindor with negative one hundred and fifty points. How did that happen?"

All the Gryffindors turned to glare at James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus as they burst out laughing.

"Ah, the little pranksters. Yes, they would cause a mess in points." Dumbledore said.

"Don't worry guys. Next year will be better." James grinned.

"Seeing as we don't plan on getting caught anymore." Remus added, smirking.

"How about you four stop all together?" Shawn yelled.

Sirius waved him off. "Where is the fun in that?" He turned back to the Headmaster. "Continue sir."

"Thank you, Mr. Black." Dumbledore said. "Slytherin is in third place with three hundred and twenty points. In second place with three hundred and seventy points is Ravenclaw. And in first with three hundred and ninety nine points is Hufflepuff."

The Hufflepuff erupted with cheers as Dumbledore clapped his hands and the blue and bronze banners changed to yellow and black, the Hufflepuff colors, with a badger on them.

"Ready?" James whispered as everyone was distracted with the Hufflepuff's cheering.

"Yes." Three people replied.

Each boy inconspicuously pulled their wands out and waved them under the table, each whispering a different spell.

Yellow and Black balloons and confetti rained down from the ceiling, gaining everyone's attention, followed by sparkly bubbles filled with mini badgers that were cheering along with the students.

_Congratulations Hufflepuff! Job well done!_Remus's silver writing said.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake. Not you again!" McGonagall said annoyed as she stood up.

_Aw, don't you like us, Professor? We like you. You are our favorite teacher._

McGonagall glared at the writing. "Why are you here this time?"

_To offer our congratulations to the Hufflepuff students and we also decided to tell you who we are. We don't feel like keeping it a secret any longer._

"So, then, please inform us all. Who are you?" McGonagall asked.

_Give me a minute. We didn't exactly discuss how we were going to reveal this._

"Oh, for the love of….just tell us already." McGonagall growled.

_No need to growl at me. It's the last day of term. You should be happy._

"I'd be happier if you would just get on with it so we could begin the feast." McGonagall replied.

Remus looked at his friends. "How do I do this?"

"We'll join you." James replied.

James whispered the spell and started writing. His writing came out red. _First, let's say there are four of us._

Peter went next and his writing was blue. _We are Gryffindors._

Sirius whispered the spell. His writing came out as gold. _And we are troublesome first years._

McGonagall's eyes snapped to them. "Black! Lupin! Potter! Pettigrew!"

The Marauders grinned at her. "Yes Professor?" They asked together.

"Good job, boys." Dumbledore interrupted.

"What?" James asked shocked.

"Your spell work is magnificent. I have never known students your age teach themselves the spells you need for these pranks. Some of them are beyond your years. Very good work." Dumbledore chuckled.

"But that does not excuse everything you four have done. My office now!" McGonagall yelled.

At the Slytherin table, Severus looked on happily. He hated those Marauders and now they were going to get into a lot of trouble, maybe even expelled. He would love that.

"Oh, come on, Professor. It's the last day of term. Let them enjoy the feast." Bilius interrupted. He was grinning at the Marauders. "There were just showing holiday spirit with their pranks and today they were being good sports and congratulating the Hufflepuffs on their win. There never hurt anyone with their pranks. The only one that actually did anything was the Halloween prank and being scared on Halloween is all a part of Halloween."

The Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and the Gryffindors roared their approval. Even though the Gryffindors were mad about not winning the House Cup, they loved the Marauders and their pranks. They thought they were hilarious. The only Gryffindor not cheering was Lily Evans. She didn't think it was fair if the Marauders got away with their pranks and she was mad at them for hexing Severus. The Marauders deserved whatever came their way. She sent a glare at Remus. She thought he was alright, but with the way things are going, she was slowing changing her opinion. How could he be a Marauder? She considered them horrible with their pranks and always embarrassing people.

McGonagall glared at the students. The Marauders have caused so much chaos that year. They needed to be punished.

Dumbledore chuckled. "Well, it seems punishing them won't go well with most of the students. Let's just give them a warning and begin the feast."

McGonagall sighed disapprovingly, but sat down.

The Marauders grinned and started cheering when they saw they weren't going to be punished.

"Be warned, Marauders," Dumbledore said when the cheering stopped. His eyes were twinkling a lot. "Next year, you won't be getting off so easily if you decided to prank more."

"You have to catch us in the act first!" Sirius called.

Dumbledore chuckled. "Let the feast begin!"

All night the house chatted with each other. Students from Gryffindor and the other house, except Slytherin, came over to the Marauders to congratulate them on a job well done and to thank them for the exciting year. The boys grinned at them. They loved the attention they were getting, even Remus. He couldn't believe how much he liked being accepted by these students. He was loving it.

The next day the boys excitedly got on the train. They were still getting handshakes from the other students who didn't get to congratulate or thanked them the night before.

"This has been a great year." James said as he closed the door to their compartment.

"Just think of what next year will be like." Sirius sighed happily. He closed his eyes and leaned back in his seat. His legs were stretched out in front of him and his arms were crossed over his chest. He looked very relaxed.

Remus shuddered. "I don't even want to. Just think of all the chaos you two will get up to with all the new magic you will be learning."

"I'll be able to bring my broom to school next year." James grinned. "I wish there was a Chaser position open. I really wanted to try out."

"Why not try out for Seeker? You're scrawny enough; just the right build for one." Remus suggested with a smirk.

James glared at him.

"You know he is right, Jamie." Sirius replied. He grinned. "As for me, I'm going to try out for Beater."

"What about you, Remus? Are you going to try out? I know you love playing Keeper." Peter asked.

Remus shook his head. "No, I don't want to play. I like watching."

"We need to plan for the World Cup though." James said. "There is no way that Sirius's parents will let him go if they know it's a Half-blood taking him. No offense Remus."

Remus shook his head. "Why doesn't Sirius just stay at your place before the Cup and the week before the game you guys stay at my house? That way they won't know."

"That should work. What do you think, Sirius?" James asked.

"It's good, as long as my parents don't go to the game. It isn't likely since they don't like Quidditch." Sirius said.

James thought for a moment. "I'll take the cloak, so if they do show up, you can hide under it and they will never know. Remus, who is going to take us to the game?"

"I'm not sure. It's isn't going to be Jason or my uncle. Why?" Remus asked, raising a brow.

"We need to make sure that whoever we take won't slip and let Sirius's parents know that he is there." James explained.

Remus frowned. "Then it will have to be Jason. My uncle will let them know. He's a stickler for rules and such. Jason won't tell. He broke quite a few rules himself at Hogwarts. He wasn't a prankster let us, but he did break rules and thinks it's fun to trick people."

James grinned. "I'm really liking your cousin and I haven't even met him yet."

"Did you guys see Evans yesterday?" Peter asked, jumping into the conversation.

The others turned to him with confused looks.

"She didn't look happy when we got away with everything yesterday. She looked really mad." Peter explained.

"Ah, another stickler for the rules." James sighed. "They are everywhere!"

Peter turned to Remus. "She looked especially mad at you. All through dinner she sent you glares. I'm surprised you didn't notice. I think she's mad that you are a prankster and are hanging around us, instead of more respectable people.

"That girl needs to mind her own business. Remus can hang with whoever he wants." Sirius grunted.

For the rest of the train ride the boys talked about pointless things and played a few rounds of Exploding Snap and Wizard's Chess. Occasionally a Prefect would check in on them to make sure they weren't planning anything or a student would come to talk with them to congratulate them. Remus saw that a lot of kids still wanted to talk to them about being the Marauders. They were all impressed with their pranks. A lot of them kept asking questions, only to be disappointed when the boys said they couldn't answer. After all, the Marauders ways were secret.

The boys grabbed their trunks and jumped off the train when it arrived at the station.

"Write to me a lot." Sirius ordered. "I'm going to be miserable there and will need something to distract my mind from being with the family."

"We will." James replied, pushing his glasses up.

"Jamesie!" A voice yelled, making James blush and the other boys to laugh.

A woman looking to be in her sixties with graying hair and bright hazel eyes was walking over to them. She pulled James into a big hug when she reached them. "I've missed you so much. How was your school year?"

"It was fine, Mom." James replied and pulled out of her hug. "These are my friends."

Remus froze when he saw her. He recognized her. She was the Healer that took care of him when he got bit by a werewolf. What was she going to do when she realized who he was? Was she going to tell the school and not allow him to return?

Mrs. Potter saw his gaze and sent a wink at him.

Remus relaxed a little.

"Hello boys. I'm James's mom, Maria Potter." Mrs. Potter told them.

"Hello ma'am, I'm Sirius Black." Sirius held his hand out and shook hers.

"Peter Pettigrew." He shook her hand as well.

Remus grinned. "Bonjour Mme. Potter. Je suis Remus Lupin."

"You speak French?" James asked shocked.

"Oui." Remus replied.

"Well, stop it. We can't understand you." Sirius ordered.

Remus smirked. "Hello Mrs. Potter. I am Remus Lupin."

"Nice to meet you, Remus." Mrs. Potter smiled at him. She always liked him. He was a nice boy. She was sorry for him to have to be a werewolf. It wasn't fair that a nice boy liked him got bitten by a werewolf.

"REMUS!" Jason yelled.

Remus turned around to grin at his cousin. "Hi Jason."

Jason smiled at him. "Are these your friends?"

"Yeah, James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew." Remus pointed to each of his friends in turn.

Jason nodded at each of them.

"Jason, what was that important news you wanted to tell me?" Remus asked curiously.

Jason grinned. "I got onto the Appleby Arrows Quidditch Team. I'm their new Beater."

"What? But I thought you were training to be an Auror!" Remus said shocked.

"I finished the training, but then I saw that the team was having tryouts and said 'what the heck' and went to tryout. I didn't think I would actually make the team." Jason grinned.

"Congrats Jason!" James said.

Remus smiled. "Yeah, congratulations Jase."

"Thanks." Jason replied.

"Hey Jason," Remus tugged on his arm. "Are you taking us to the World Cup? You are more fun than Uncle Kaus."

"Yep, I'm taking you." Jason said.

"What's this I hear about the World Cup?" Charlus Potter asked as he reached the group. He was as big of a fan of the game as his son.

James turned to him with a big grin. "Dad, Remus has Prime tickets for the World Cup. Can I go to the game with him?"

"Sure son." Mr. Potter replied immediately.

"YES!" James cheered. He turned to his friends. "This is going to be an awesome summer!"

**FINITE INCANTATEM!**


End file.
